Mad, Impossible Pond and her Raggedy Doctor
by Anjirika
Summary: When Amy had to choose between her imaginary friend and the very real Rory, she chose differently. This is an AU version from 'Amy's Choice' and continues the series from there with lots of changes and craziness along the way. Please Read and Review!
1. Amy Chooses Differently

DISCLAIMER: Doctor Who does not belong to me. It belongs to the BBC. I am getting no financial reward from this; I am just borrowing the premise & characters for my own enjoyment (and hopefully, yours too)

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** MAD, IMPOSSIBLE POND & HER RAGGEDY DOCTOR**

**A total AU version of new!Who series 5 & onwards…**

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**Chapter One: Amy Chooses Differently**

Flashing forward, or flashing backwards. Amy couldn't tell which reality was real. When she was in the TARDIS it felt so right. Travelling with the Doctor was everything that she had ever wanted, and everything that she could possibly want and yet there was the other reality where she was married to Rory and they were about to have a baby. In that reality she was happy, she felt content but with the re-emergence of the Doctor all the feelings that she had buried over the past five years resurfaced.

So Amy along with the Doctor and Rory bounced back and forth between the worlds, trying to figure out which one was the dream and which one was not. The Dream Lord kept telling Amy that she had to choose, that she alone could bring the madness to an end. But Amy didn't want to choose. How could she when it would break the heart of one of the men in her life?

And then it happened. In the bedroom of her soon to be born child, Amy watched as Mrs. Pockett, an old lady that Amy had actually come to like in this version of reality opened her mouth. That scary eye thing emerged and started to spray the acid that dissolved the person into ash in Amy's direction. Rory screamed for her, but he had been knocked to the ground, the Doctor was the closest.

Without even thinking, the Doctor threw himself in front of Amy and her unborn child. He was willing to do anything to protect her, especially after he had ruined her life by making her wait for him all those years. Amy choked back a sob as the Doctor fell to the ground in pain. "Help him," Amy pleaded to Rory as she crawled to the Doctor's side. "You're a Doctor now Rory," she pleaded again. "Help him."

"I'm sorry," Rory apologized as he got to his feet.

"Amy," the Doctor croaked out, bringing her attention to him. "Live well."

Amy watched in horror as her Doctor, her raggedy Doctor disintegrated into a pole of ash. At first she didn't quite know what to do, or what to say. There was just this bone crushing, heart breaking loss that threatened to consume her. Amy looked up with tears in her eyes at Rory and realized something— she didn't love him. In a moment Amy realized that she didn't want to be married to Rory and she didn't want to be living in Upper Ledworth either. She wanted more than anything to travel around with a mad man in a blue box.

"Amy," Rory began apologetically as he reached down to her. "I'm—"

"No," Amy said as she got to her feet. "No he's not dead."

"Amy," Rory began again, thinking that Amy had finally gone off her rocker. "He's gone. You saw it. We both saw it."

"I know what I saw," Amy agreed as she got up. "But he's not dead. He can't be dead."

"Amy?" Rory asked, reaching out to her.

"No," she said as she recoiled from him. "Rory I'm sorry but… no."

Rory's face fell as he understand. "You don't want this life."

Tears sprang to Amy's eyes. "I'm sorry."

"But this might be real,"

"It can't be," Amy stated firmly. "Because the Doctor is dead."

"Amy… you still have me."

"I know," she choked out. "And I do care for you Rory, I really do but I… the Dream Lord has been saying that I would have to make a choice and I've made it. This isn't the real world. It can't be. I don't want it to be."

"Amy…"

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I didn't know. I really didn't. Not until now."

Rory closed his eyes. He knew that he too had a choice. He could help Amy end the dream by killing the two of them, or he could find a way out— keep her and their baby alive to fight another day. And while the second option was more appealing to Rory who loved Amy dearly, he loved her enough to let her go.

"Okay," he said at last. "What do you want to do?"

The only thing that Amy could think of was to drive the van into something solid. She and Rory made their way down the stairs, the aliens giving them a wide berth. Amy wondered why they weren't attacking them, and Rory figured that it was because they knew what they were planning on doing. "Are you sure that you want to do this?" he asked as he handed her the keys.

Amy nodded. "I'm certain."

"And if you're wrong…"

"Then I'm wrong," she stated bluntly. "But you know that this can't be real Rory. Even if it is, we don't want this world. Upper Ledworth is not a good place, and the entire world could be like this for all we know."

Rory nodded, conceding. "Alright."

And with that, they climbed into the van and Amy drove it into the doorway of their home. They died in the Ledworth dream and woke up in the frozen TARDIS. Amy found herself facing Rory and with the last of her strength she rolled over and looked into the eyes of the Doctor as they opened. Her Doctor was alive— they were about to die anyways— but her raggedy man was alive.

"So you chose this world," the Dream Lord began as he appeared over them. "Well done, you got it right and with only seconds left. Fair's fair," he admitted. "Let's warm you up…" the Dream Lord flicked his hand and the power was restored.

"I hope you enjoyed your little fictions," he continued. "It all came out from your imagination so I'll leave you to ponder on that. I have been defeated. I shall withdraw. Farewell."

With the power fully restored; Amy, the Doctor and Rory got to their feet. "What happened?" the Doctor asked as he glanced around the TARDIS. "I didn't die… did I?"

Amy nodded. "You did actually."

"And you figured out that that world was a dream all on your own?" he asked proudly.

"We did," Amy said with a nod as the Doctor started flipping some controls on the TARDIS controls. "What are you doing now?"

"Me?" the Doctor asked with a look on his face. "I'm going to blow up the TARDIS."

"What?" exclaimed Rory.

"Notice how helpful the Dream Lord was?" the Doctor asked as he worked the consoles. "Okay there was misinformation, red herrings, malice and I could have done without the limerick but he was always very keen to make us choose between dream and reality."

"What are you doing?" Rory asked as the Doctor laughed.

"This isn't the dream," Amy insisted. "This is reality."

"No it's not," the Doctor promised.

"It has to be," Amy whispered.

"Stars burning cold," the Doctor said almost gleefully. "As if. The Dream Lord has no power over the real world. He was offering us a choice between two dreams."

"And how do you know that?" asked Amy as she gripped the TARDIS consoles tightly in fear and worry but with the utmost trust in the Doctor.

The Doctor smiled. "Because I know who he is."

The TARDIS exploded. Amy, Rory and the Doctor instantly found themselves alive and well in the very much still intact TARDIS. Before either of the humans could ask the Doctor anything he reached underneath the console and pulled something out.

He stood up and leaned against it, glancing up at his companions. "Any questions?"

"What's that?" asked Amy

"A speck of psychic pollen from the candle meadows of Karass don Slava. Must have been hanging around for ages. Fell in the time rotor, heated up and induced a dream state for all of us." the Doctor explained as he went to the door and blew the pollen into space.

"So that was the Dream Lord then?" asked Rory. "Those little specks?"

The Doctor shook his head. "No. Sorry. Wasn't it obvious? The Dream Lord was me. Psychic pollen, it's a mind parasite. It feeds on everything dark in you. Gives it a voice, turns it against you. I'm 907. It had a lot to go on."

"But why didn't feed on us too?" asked Amy.

The Doctor smiled. "Darkness in you pair? It would've starved to death in an instant. I choose my friends with great care. Otherwise I'm stuck with my own company, and you know how that works out.

"But," Amy protested. "Those things he said about you. You don't think any of that's true?"

The Doctor glanced to Rory and Amy with a confused look on his face. "I don't understand," he said at last. "If I died, how did you figure out that that world wasn't reality? You wanted it so much to be real."

"I uh…" Amy began awkwardly.

"You better explain it Amy," Rory said bitterly.

"Rory," she begged. "Please."

"What's going on here?" the Doctor asked. "What did I miss?"

"It's you!" Rory shouted angrily. "It's always been you."

"I thought that I could have a normal life with you Rory," she said sadly. "I really thought that I would be able to forget the Doctor and settle down but it's not something that I want. I'm so sorry," she apologized. "I could never have that life with you Rory. It's not my dream. It's yours, and you need to find yourself a girl who will love you the way that you deserve to be loved. You're so special and—"

"How could you," Rory began, sounding angry. "How could you want me, when you can have all this," he finished bitterly and resigned.

"Rory?" Amy asked.

"Take me home Doctor," he said dejectedly as he took a step back from Amy. "I'm done travelling with you, with the both of you. I'm ready to go home."

The Doctor said nothing, he merely pulled some controls and the TARDIS whirred to life. Within moments all movement stilled and the doors swung open to reveal Ledworth. June 26, 2010 just moments after Rory had been whisked away.

Without saying a word he walked out of the TARDIS and the doors closed behind him. Amy watched through the window as Rory continued to walk away into the night. He didn't look back. When the Doctor placed a comforting hand on Amy's shoulder, she didn't flinch.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I've ruined everything."

Amy stayed silent.

"If I had returned to you after five minutes instead then I could have shown you the universe and returned you to your own time where you would have grown up content and happy and—"

"Don't be sorry," Amy stated.

"What?" the Doctor asked, feeling confused again.

She looked at him. "I said don't be sorry."

The Doctor furrowed his brow. "Why not?"

"Because I could never be happy anywhere but here," Amy assured before she walked past the Doctor to the TARDIS console. "This place captured my heart when I was a little girl. You captured my imagination just the same. I waited for you Doctor. Fourteen years. I waited for you. I'm not going to let you go now that I've found you."

The Doctor took Amy into his arms and held on to her tight. "Amelia Pond," he said with a smile. "I am glad that you chose me."

"Course you are," Amy said with a smile of her own as she pulled back. "I'm fabulous."

The Doctor laughed. "Yes you are."

"So where to now?" she asked excitedly.

The Doctor pondered and let his hands dance across the controls of the TARDIS until he finally figured out a destination. "How about Rio?"

TBC

_Author's Note: I did this with Stargate Atlantis and Stargate SG1 and I quite enjoyed it. In those ficletts, I took one moment and changed it and followed the ripples through the remaining two seasons, changing things and adding things as I went. I decided with Series 6 of newWho starting up so soon, that I would try my hand with this fandom. As you can see, Amy has made a different choice and you'll just have to wait and see how it changes the plot as we know it now. ^_^ If you enjoyed please leave a review!_

_Author's Note 2: Monday September 19, 2011: I've decided to update this chapter. I really didn't like how Amy came off in the previous incarnation of this chapter so I've changed it to make the Doctor the one who dies in the dream instead of Rory— I think that it sets up my AU story a LOT better. :D Please review if you haven't done so already!_


	2. Mystery of the Blue Grass

DISCLAIMER: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC and their writers. I am getting no financial reward from this, I am merely borrowing the premise and characters for my own enjoyment (and yours too hopefully).

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**Chapter Two: Mystery of the Blue Grass **

"Behold," the Doctor began as he opened the doors to the TARDIS. "Rio!"

Amy peered past the Doctor and saw that they most definitely weren't in Rio. "Nice try."

"No," the Doctor began as he walked out of the TARDIS. "Oh, feel that though, what's that?" he asked as he bounced in place. "Ground feels strange..." he paused and looked at Amy who was now standing outside the TARDIS too. "Just me. Wait, that's weird."

"Stop trying to distract me," Amy chastised. "We're in the wrong place..." she paused as the Doctor took off running around the church that they had landed by. "Doctor it's freezing! I'm dressed for Rio. This is a graveyard and you promised me a beach."

"Blue grass," the Doctor began as he walked a little ways from Amy. "Patches of it all around the graveyard. So Earth, twenty-twenty-ish. Ten years into your future. Wrong continent for Rio, I'll admit. But it's not such a massive overshoot."

Amy rolled her eyes and looked away from the Doctor. That's when she noticed a person on the other side of the valley, waving at them. "Why is that person waving at us?"

The Doctor looked to what she meant. "Can't be."

"Can't be what?" asked Amy.

"It's you."

"Me?"

The Doctor nodded. "Ten years in your future, come to relieve past glories."

"No that can't be right," Amy stated feeling like someone had punched her in the gut.

"And why not?"

"I'd never want to give this all up," she pointed out. "I need to go talk to future me and find out what happened."

"No. Best not," the Doctor warned as he grabbed Amy by the hand. "These things get complicated very quickly and oh," he paused and whirled Amy around to look at what he had just spotted. "Look. Big mining thing. Oh I lovea big mining thing. See, way better than Rio! Rio doesn't have a big mining thing."

Amy sighed. "We're not having a look, are we?"

"Let's go have a look."

Amy glanced over her shoulder one more time at future her before following the Doctor.

The Doctor soniced their way into the mining platform. At first everything seemed normal. They ran into two people who seemed to be running the mining platform but then there was an earthquake. Holes began to open up everywhere and Amy got trapped in one.

"It's pulling me down!" she cried out.

"Amy!" the Doctor called as he ran to her.

"Doctor, help me. Something's got me."

The Doctor laid on his stomach and reached for her. "I've got you."

"Don't let go," she pleaded. She knew that the Doctor would do anything in his power to save her, but that didn't stop her from being terrified.

"Never," the Doctor assured. He wasn't about to let Amy go. He had let far too many companions and potential companions go over his long years and he was determined to save her.

"Why is it doing this?" she asked. Fear was laced through her voice and it broke the Doctor's hearts, especially since he couldn't answer her question.

"Stay calm," the Doctor ordered. "Keep hold of my hand. Don't let go," he paused and glanced to the two people who were quite safe. "Your drill, shut it down!" he demanded. "Go! Now!."

The woman and the man, Nasreen and Tony ran out of the room leaving the Doctor with Amy to themselves, and the danger from below.

"Can you get me out?" she asked, hoping and wishing that he'd magic her out of the mess she had gotten herself into.

"Try and stay calm," he suggested, trying to distract her long enough for the drill to get shut off. "If you struggle, it'll make things worse. Keep hold."

"Doctor..." she cried out as she was pulled a little deeper.

"I'm not going to let you go," he assured, knowing that his words didn't mean much when he was powerless to do anything.

"It's pulling me down!" Amy cried as she sunk a little lower. "Something's pulling me down."

"Amy," the Doctor pleaded. "You've got to hold on."

"What's pulling me?" she asked, only her head and arms above the hole. "What's under the earth? I don't want to suffocate under there."

"Concentrate," the Doctor stated. "Don't you give up."

Amy nodded, trying to put a brave face on for the Doctor but she sunk lower and the last thing she knew was the Doctor crying out for her. Things seemed to happen very quickly after that. For both of them. Amy found herself underground, in a strange compound while the Doctor had to deal with the humans and their own fears. Eventually, after capturing one of the Silurians or Earthians, as he called them, the Doctor descended down into the Earth and subsequently got captured. Amy in the meantime managed to escape and found herself in the unique position to save her raggedy Doctor.

"Let them go!' she ordered as she aimed her gun at one of the aliens.

"Amy Pond," the Doctor said proudly, quite relieved that she was safe. "There's a girl to rely on."

"You're covered both ways," Amy continued as her new found friend Mo came in through the main door. "So don't try anything clever buster. Let them go, or I shoot."

Restac, the alien that Amy was pointing her gun at took the gun from Amy, pushing her down to the ground in the process.

"Don't you touch her!" the Doctor cried out.

But it was no use, he along with the others were tied up.

"Okay," Amy began apologetically. "Sorry. As rescues go, this one didn't live up to potential."

The Doctor gave her a gentle smile. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Me too," Amy agreed. "Lizard men, though?"

"Homo reptilia," the Doctor explained. "They occupied the planet before humans. Now they want it back."

And it seemed like they would do anything and kill anyone to reclaim their planet. But after a bit of good luck, mainly in terms of the real leader of the Silurians waking up the Doctor and his friends were not executed. Things took a nose dive when Alaya, the hostage that the Doctor had captured turned up dead but he made the humans promise to get the outer world ready in a thousand years for the return of the Silurians and they in turn promised to go back into hibernation so long as the drilling stopped.

"No questions," the Doctor stayed as he ushered the family that he had rescued into the TARDIS. "Yes I know it's big. Ambrose, sickbay up the stairs. Left, then left again. Get yourself fixed up. Come on! Five minutes and counting..." he trailed off when he noticed a crack on the tunnel wall it was the same one from Amy's bedroom and it was getting bigger. "No here," he murmured. "Not now. It's getting wider."

"The crack on my bedroom wall," Amy stated in absolute horror.

"And the Byzantium. All through the universe, rips in the continuum," the Doctor added, fascinated by the prospect of the crack before him.

"What is it?" asked Amy, terrified.

"Some sort of space-time cataclysm. An explosion maybe. Big enough to put cracks in the universe but what?" he asked, studying the crack and Amy could see that he was fascinated by the thing.

"Four minutes fifty," Amy stated as she checked the stopwatch. "We have to go."

"The Angels laughed when I didn't know," the Doctor stated, not listening to her at all. He was getting angry. He hated when he didn't know something. "Prisoner Zero knew. Everybody knows except me!"

"Doctor, just leave it."

"But where there's an explosion," he continued pulling a red hankie from an inside pocket. "There's shrapnel." The Doctor walked right up to the crack. If his adversaries weren't going to tell him what was going on, he was going to find out for himself.

"Doctor don't!" Amy warned but the Doctor did not seem to hear her. He reached in holding the hankie and cried out in pain as the light brightened.

"I've got something," he stated though it felt as though his whole had was being erased out of existence it was a most painful thing to experience, and quite unlike anything he ever had.

"What is it?" Amy asked nervously as the Doctor fell backwards, clutching the item wrapped in the hankie. It seemed to sizzle with heat and energy and the Doctor stared at it.

"I don't know," he admitted.

"Let's go now," Amy ordered as she hauled him to his feet and they managed to get inside the TARDIS and escape the tunnels before it was too late.

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Back in the churchyard, the Doctor said goodbye to Mo, Elliot and Ambrose while Amy stared at her future self. _I just don't understand,_ she thought to herself. _How could I ever leave the Doctor? _It was a question that Amy hoped she would never get the answer to, for she wanted to travel with him— forever.

TBC

_Author's Note: There really wasn't much to change in this episode therefore a lot of it is lifted right from what was written.I hope that you still enjoyed it and will leave a review. Coming up next is a brand new Doctor/Amy adventure with an old 'friend' Please leave a review and let me know what you thought! _


	3. Arcadian Moon

DISCLAIMER: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC and their writers. I am getting no financial reward from this, I am merely borrowing the premise and characters for my own enjoyment (and yours too hopefully).

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**Chapter Three: Arcadian Moon**

When the Doctor had asked Amy if she wanted to visit Arcadia, she hadn't known what it was. She thought that Arcadia might be some exotic planet, moon or space-station at the far flung reaches of time and space— and the Doctor assured that Arcadia was all of those things, but the one that he had in mind was in archaic Greece, on Earth.

They walked across a pastoral landscape, and Amy could feel herself becoming more and more bored by the minute. "Doctor," she complained after a while of walking. "I'm bored."

"Bored?"

"Yes," Amy confirmed. "Bored."

"How can you possibly be bored?" he scoffed. "This is such a beautiful place."

"Beautiful yes," Amy agreed. "But nothing's here."

"Nothing?" asked the Doctor, stopping in his tracks to glance around. "There's the sky,"

"Like any other sky that I've ever seen."

"There's the landscape,"

"Not much different from the fields of England,"

The Doctor sighed and looked out onto the horizon. "I suppose you're right...not our usual cup of tea is it? Funny thing that," the Doctor rambled as Amy turned away from him. "Cup of tea. Such a British saying. I bet you've always been wondering why I sound British— being a Time Lord I could regenerate into anything. I could be American, or Slithereen or luck forbid a girl— but I've always been really lucky that I've come out British and it's all because of your cup of tea. Loved cuppa's in the sixties. I got stranded there for ages, really fell in love with this little planet and—"

"Doctor," Amy interrupted as she brought her hands to her eyes to shield them from the sun.

"What is it now Amy?"

"Do large black shadows always cross Arcadia like that?"

The Doctor turned from the direction that he was facing, to the one that Amy was. He followed her gaze and saw something very familiar. "Oh dear," he muttered aloud as he came to stand beside Amy. "I had hoped not to see one of those again."

"One of what?" asked Amy. "What is it?"

_Can I just say one thing?_ asked a voice in his head.

_What? r_eplied his previous incarnation

_A werewolf!_ the woman's voice squealed excitedly

_I know!_ he replied back just as enthusiastically

"Doctor?" Amy asked again, snapping out of his memory. "What is it?"

"Something bad," the Doctor answered as he took her hand. "Run!"

They sprinted across the pastoral landscape in the opposite direction to where they had parked the TARDIS, and on an opposite yet parallel course to the creature that Amy had seen. They raced until they saw a cluster of small trees, not far in the distance. Night was closing in, and the Doctor figured that the grove would be better than no cover at all.

"There," he stated as he pulled Amy. "Come along Pond."

Together they raced along the home stretch and made it to the cover of the trees just as the sun slipped beneath the horizon followed by a horrific howl in the distance.

"Doctor," Amy whispered as she held on tight to the Doctor's arm, her nails digging through his tweed jacket and into his arm as they whirled around to look through the trees to the pastoral landscape behond. "What was that?"

"That my dear was an abomination, a monstrosity..." came a voice from behind them.

Amy and Doctor turned around slowly to be confronted by a different sort of monster.

"Pan!" the Doctor exclaimed cheerily. "So good to see you."

"Pan?" asked Amy as the Doctor strode up to the half-man half creature.

"Yeah, you know Greek mythology, chasing over all the nymphs..." the Doctor paused and turned back to his friend. "Been a long time hasn't it?"

"Doctor?" Pan asked. "It is you. You have a new face."

"That happens from time to time."

"Last time I saw you, you were lost on your way to meet a Queen..."

"Ah Bess," the Doctor muttered wistfully, lost in thought before he shook it away. "Another story for another time. Now tell me Pan, what's going on here?"

"Strange things," the god replied. "Zeus is at it again."

"Hang on," Amy interrupted. "Zeus as in thunderbolt guy?"

"He prefers to go by Lighting-Dude but don't tell him that I told you," the Doctor warned as he glanced at Amy. "What has the old guy done now Pan?"

"You remember the trouble that Lycaon was causing?"

The Doctor nodded. "Silly human trying to fool a Olympian, and the leader to boot."

"Well Zeus cursed him to be a creature,"

"What kind of creature?" asked a very curious Amy.

"One that can stalk the land by day, but prefers the night of the moon," Pan explained in an eerie voice. "A creature that is fierce and strong by tooth and claw. The first of his kind here in this place."

Amy shook his head. "I'm not one for riddles."

A howl sounded causing a shiver to run down all their spines.

"Hang on," Amy stated as she suddenly put two and two together. "You're not telling me,"

"Yep," the Doctor interrupted. "Werewolf."

"Tell me Doctor," Pan added. "How do we stop this thing?"

"We don't do anything at all," the Doctor answered. "You're going to stay here with Amy,"

"Oi," she protested. "Where you go, I go."

The Doctor shook his head. "Not this time."

"But Doctor,"

"Amy, you don't understand," he insisted. "A single bite from a werewolf could ruin your life, and one from the very first werewolf could end your life."

"I didn't stay with you to be safe,"

The Doctor nodded. "I know that, but believe me and stay."

The Doctor paused and watched as Amy remained unconvinced.

"Trust me," he pleaded.

Amy was not one from backing down, especially where the Doctor was concerned. However the look in his eye told her that he was serious. He wasn't going to back down from this fight, and there was something almost scary by his insistence that made Amy realize that for the first time she might actually be better off staying behind.

"Alright," she conceded with a nod of her head. "I'll stay with goat boy."

"Hey!" Pan exclaimed feeling undignified while the Doctor smiled at the levity that Amy brought.

"Pan," the Doctor stated with a smile. "Watch Amy."

"I shall do as you ask."

"I mean it," the Doctor insisted. "Keep her safe."

Pan nodded. "I shall not let you down."

The Doctor regarded Pan and Amy for a moment before giving them an encouraging smile.

"Now don't you worry at all," he promised as he began to back away. "I'll be back before the sun."

The Doctor took off leaving Amy and the god Pan behind him. Amy watched and waited mentally counting down from thirty to zero before taking off after him.

"Hey!" Pan exclaimed again. "The Doctor told us to stay here."

"The Doctor says a lot of things," Amy answered, not pausing to stop.

"But I'm supposed to keep my eye on you."

"Then keep your eye on me and follow goat boy," Amy taunted as she exited the grove all together. Pan followed just as she knew he would and together they began to follow the distant sight of the Doctor. While they walked, Amy knew that the Doctor didn't have a plan. He never seemed to have a plan, always making things up as they went and she figured that it was her turn to do the same.

_Alright Pond,_ she told herself as they walked across the moonlit landscape. _You're going to keep the Doctor in your sights, you're not going to let him get in trouble and when this is all over you're going to make sure he takes you somewhere very cool, spacey even and—_

"Well come along Pond," the Doctor stated just inches from where Amy was.

Amy looked up and was shocked to see the Doctor in her face. "Oh,"

"Never listen to a word I say, do you Pond?"

Amy grinned. "Nope."

The Doctor sighed. "Well let's go then."

Together, the trio marched over the pastoral landscape. The Doctor used his sonic screwdriver to attract the creature and in a rather anti-climatic way Pan lulled the creature to sleep with his magical flute. All in all, Amy decided that it was a rather easy resolution which allowed her and the Doctor to leave the eternally sleeping werewolf to Pan.

"All-righty then," the Doctor stated as they re-entered the TARDIS. "That was exciting."

"Werewolf," Amy agreed with a nod of her head. "Very exciting."

"And you thought that Arcadia was boring,"

Amy smiled. "Okay I take it back."

"As you should."

"Where to next Doctor?" Amy asked as she strode to the console. "Somewhere exciting from the outset I hope."

The Doctor gave her a devilish grin. "Oh I have an idea..."

TBC

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_Author's Note: I always wondered what Arcadia was like when Amy mentioned it. So I decided to find out and next comes the Trojan Gardens. But where do you think those Trojan Gardens are going to be? Hmm, only I know. Please leave a review!_

_Oh, and on a side note I've been obsessing over the new BBCone Trailer. Series Six looks SOOO good! If you haven't seen it yet, you should totally check it out.  
_


	4. The Wandering Gardens of New Troy

DISCLAIMER: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC and their writers. I am getting no financial reward from this, I am merely borrowing the premise and characters for my own enjoyment and yours too hopefully. :D

**Chapter Four: The Wandering Gardens of New Troy**

Amy was not amused. "I thought you were going to take me to the Trojan Gardens," she stated as she stepped out of the TARDIS. "This doesn't look like the Troy that I know."

"That's because you've always assumed that things in time are only named once," the Doctor explained as he followed Amy out of the TARDIS. "You're thinking of the more famous Troy, with it's huge impenetrable walls and the horse, can't forget the horse of course. Hey that rhymes!"

"I thought the horse was Greek?" Amy asked, ignoring the Doctor's ramblings.

"Yeah well it was my idea," the Doctor stated. "Odysseus stole it from me. The guy was like that you know. Not an original though in that little head of his. The whole world knows his name, and the whole 'beware Greeks baring gifts' comes from that moment in time too and—"

"The whole world knows who you are yeah?" asked Amy, earning a confused and quite confounded look from the Doctor. Amy thought about what she had just said and realized that she had no idea what she was talking about. "I don't know why I just said that."

"Why did you say that?" the Doctor asked, stepping closer to Amy.

"I just said that I dunno," she answered, stepping away from him.

"Something in that brain of yours made you say it."

"I say a lot of things."

The Doctor shook his head. "Think Amy," he ordered. "Why did you say that?"

Amy shrugged. "For a moment I thought that the whole world knows who you are, but that's impossible right?"

"Mad, impossible Amy Pond," he murmured as be walked around her.

"I'm not mad," she defended. "Or impossible."

"But you are," the Doctor assured with a wicked excited look in his eyes. "And I'll let you in on a little secret Amy. A long time ago, in the year that never was, the second last Time Lord in existence took over the world. I had a companion at the time, Martha Jones— who travelled the entire world on her own, brave girl. Can't imagine doing that myself. Walking around the entire world, no—I'd much rather travel in my TARDIS. It really is a much better way to travel and..."

"Doctor," Amy interjected. "The point?"

"Right, well Martha told stories about me and for one moment, everyone knew my name."

Amy blinked. "I don't remember any of that."

"You wouldn't," the Doctor assured. "It was the year that never was. Never happened."

"But you remember,"

"I'm special,"

Amy glared at him. "Doctor..."

"I was at the eye of the storm. Nothing changes for me."

"So how'd it happen?"

"Do you remember Harold Saxon?"

"Was he an athlete or something" asked Amy, not knowing who the Doctor was talking about.

The Doctor sighed and shook his head. "Never mind, now— let's go exploring shall we?"

Deciding that it would be best to shrug the conversation off, Amy agreed and together she and the Doctor walked away from the parked TARDIS. A part of her was quite disappointed that they weren't in Earth's ancient past, but the other part of Amy was enjoying the strange mixture of technology and biology. They seemed to be on some sort of space station, for as Amy walked she could see windows where inky blackness was punctuated by faint spots of lights.

"So where are we?" asked Amy as they strolled under the branches of a large tree.

"The Trojan Gardens," he answered. "Or rather, the latest incarnation of them."

"You mean that there have been more than one?"

"Oh yeah," the Doctor rambled. "You humans are a funny lot. Always nostalgic for something or another. Like New York, guess how many New York's there have been in the history of creation."

Amy shrugged her shoulders. "I have no idea," she stated disinterestedly.

"Lots. More than one can count," the Doctor admitted. "Though my favourite is New, New New, New-New-New-New-New-New-New-New-New, New, New, New York. Very pretty, with lots of problems though..." he paused and thought back to when he re-encountered Cassandra there, and how that's where the Face of Boe gave up his long, long life.

"Can we go there?" asked Amy.

The Doctor shook his head. "Don't like re-visiting the past. Always moving forward I am."

Amy grabbed the Doctor by his arms and stopped him. "Something's bothering you,"

"Nothing's bothering me," he assured. "Why would you say that?"

"Because we've gone to a lot of places and you've hardly mentioned your previous companions,"

"That's not true,"

"Yes it is." Amy insisted. "I know that you're nine-hundred years old or whatever and that I'm not the first girl you've taken around the universe and considering the way that River and you act together I'm sure that I won't be the last either what—"

"You changed your mind then?" the Doctor interjected. "Want that quiet life in upper Ledworth?"

Amy shook her head. "I never said that,"

"You just said..."

"I'm not stupid Doctor," Amy snapped. "I know that when I say that I'm going to stay with you forever it doesn't mean the same thing to you as it means to me," Amy paused and softened her voice slightly. "I get that you're going to remain the same, pretty much aside from that whole regeneri-giggy thing that you do where as I won't. And barring any creepy horrible freak accident or something, I'm going to stay with you, for as long as I'm able..." Amy paused again, feeling all self conscious. "Unless you're the one who's changed their mind."

"What me?" asked the Doctor with a forced goofy smile on his face. "Where would the raggedy Doctor be without his Pond eh?"

Amy smiled at the Doctor's jovial attitude though she knew that it wasn't a hundred percent sincere. She was about to say something on that fact when the Doctor held up his hand. "Hang on," he stated suddenly. "Something's wrong."

"What is it?"

"I don't know yet but something is most definitely wrong..." the Doctor ran off for a moment leaving Amy alone but seconds later he returned with a puzzled look on his face. "What's the one thing you'd expect to find in a garden."

"Aside from plants?"

"Yes."

"Bugs?"

The Doctor shook his head. "Close."

"People."

"Bingo!" he exclaimed. "Tourists. The Wandering Gardens of New Troy are one of the most exciting things in thirty-third century space. So where is everyone?"

Amy shrugged and glanced around, her heart nearly stopping when she saw what looked like a face pressing out from one of the huge leaves. A moment later the face was gone and Amy wondered if she had dreamed it. But then she saw another one and she knew where the people had gone. "Look there," Amy stated, bringing the Doctor's attention to what she had seen.

"What is that?" he asked curiously as he took out his sonic and scanned the face that was pressing through. "And that," he added as he moved to a different leaf that had a hand imprint on it.

"Are they in the plants Doctor?" Amy asked, sticking by him as close as she could.

"It would look like," the Doctor murmured as he came face to face with one of the plant faces. "Hello there," he stated with a smile. "Can you tell me what's going on?"

The mournful, vacant half-formed face just disappeared leaving the Doctor quite puzzled. "Amy what do you think?" he asked as he turned around, but when he did, the Doctor saw that Amy was no longer standing behind him. "Amy?" he called out looking around, trying to figure out where his latest companion had gone. "Amy?"

The Doctor ran through the pathways of the gardens trying to find Amy. He even went so far as to trek through some of the enclosures thinking that she had wandered into one of them but nothing. He was just about to head back to the TARDIS to get a scan when he came in front of a red flower that was nearly six feet tall, and had an impression of Amy's face in the centre.

"Oh Amy..." he whispered as he walked up to the flower, the image reminding him so much of when Donna Noble had been 'saved' by the library computer and her face put on one of the information machines. "Don't worry," the Doctor continued, shaking aside the memories of the past, determined to not lose another companion. "I'm going to save you."

The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and waved it around. It read back all sorts of readings most of them harmless, but there was a strange energy signature on one of the roots that the Doctor just had to investigate. He followed the root around the gardens until he came face to face with large glowing seed. The source of all the problems. "Well hello there," the Doctor stated as he slowly walked towards the seed. "What are you?"

_You are not like the others,_ came a voice that seemed to emanate from the seed.

"No," the Doctor agreed. "And thank heavens for that. Who are you?"

_I am older than time and space_, the seed responded. _I am all that is. _

"Well I hate to break it to you, but you're not all that is. I've seen a lot of things and—"

_Time Lord arrogance,_ the seed mocked. _You think that you know all, but you know nothing_.

"I'd beg to differ..."

_The Pandorica will open,_ the seed taunted. _Silence will fall. _

"Prisoner Zero said that," the Doctor stated. "And the Weeping Angels. But what does it mean?"

_See? t_he seed asked in a laughing sort of voice. _You do not know all. _

"Enough about me," the Doctor ordered. "What are you doing here?"

_I am in need of food_

"And so you take your nourishment from people?"

_I do_

"Well I can't allow that," the Doctor stated. "Let them go, and I'll find you a new home."

_I need the nourishment of human flesh_

"But you're a plant," the Doctor pointed out. "You need sunlight and carbon dioxide."

_No where in the universe can I get that on such a level_

"If I could find you a place would you let them all go?" the Doctor asked. The seed did not say anything in return, and the Doctor hoped that it was thinking about his proposition and not thinking about eating him. A fine way that would be for the last Time Lord in existence to go. "Well?" the Doctor asked again. "Would you."

_You would help me? _the seed asked, in a voice that held a sense of awe.

"I would, I promise." the Doctor assured. "So long as it saves everyone else. Do we have a deal?"

_Yes, _the plant replied. _We have a deal._

Before the Doctor's eyes, hundreds of people were restored to life, he watched in amazement as the seed compacted itself so that it fit into the palm of the Doctor's hand and once the seed was safely stored in his pocket next to his sonic screwdriver, he went off in search of Amy.

"Amy?" he cried out as he ran through the people. "Amy?"

"Doctor!" she called back and when the Doctor finally came face to face with her he scooped her up into a hug. "Doctor?" Amy asked as the Doctor embraced her. "What happened?"

"It's a long story," the Doctor replied as he put Amy down. "And I'll tell it to you in a bit but for right now we've got fulfil a promise that I've made."

And that's what the Doctor did. He put the seed on a newly formed planet with lots of CO2 and oxygen. Back in the TARDIS, the Doctor explained everything to Amy and she just shook her head. "Seems like there's a whole lot out there then I can imagine."

"Yes Amy," the Doctor agreed. "There certainly is."

TBC

_Author's Note; Well my longest Eleventh / Amy chapter thus far. I really liked writing this one and I hope that you liked reading it. If you did, or even if you didn't please take the time to review, I'd love to get your feedback on this story. _


	5. Madness of the Man

DISCLAIMER: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC and their writers. I am getting no financial reward from this, I am merely borrowing the premise and characters for my own enjoyment and yours too hopefully. :D

**Chapter Five: Madness of the Man**

The curator of the Van Gogh exhibit was babbling away when Amy and the Doctor and Amy entered the space. It was filled with interested and not so interested people and Amy was very excited to be back in her own time— sort of. It was April 14th, 2010 about two months before Amy would once again meet the Doctor and while Amy wasn't sure why they were in a museum, she was glad that the Doctor had chosen such a adventure-less place. After their last couple adventure, she was happy for a bit of normalcy. "Thanks for bringing me," Amy stated as they walked side by side.

"You're welcome," the Doctor replied.

"You're being so nice to me," Amy pointed out. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

"I' always nice to you," the Doctor insisted.

"Not like this," Amy continued. "These places you're taking me, Arcadia...the Trojan Gardens now this... I think it's suspicious."

"Well it's not," the Doctor assured. "There's nothing to be suspicious about."

"Okay," Amy soothed. "I was joking. Why aren't you?"

"Because museums can be wrong," the Doctor answered. "And I feel like this one is wrong."

"Well then we better look around, shouldn't we?"

The Doctor and Amy made quick work of the paintings before coming to one of a church together. "Wait a minute," the Doctor began as he took a closer look at the painting.

"What?" asked Amy as she peered intently at the canvas.

The Doctor pointed. "Well just look at that."

"What?" asked Amy once more.

"Something very not good indeed," the Doctor answered.

Amy looked at the painting closer. "What thing, very not good?"

"Look there, in the window of the church..."

Amy and the Doctor looked at the window and Amy could see a dark figure that had been painted into the windows of one of the church. "Is it a face?" asked Amy curiously.

"Yes," the Doctor confirmed. "And not a nice face at all. I know evil when I see it and I see it in that window."

Without saying another word the Doctor made his way over to the curator of the exhibit and asked the exact date for the specific painting. They learned that Van Gogh painted the church between June first and third in the year eighteen-ninety. With that information in his pocket, and after complimenting the man on his bow-tie the Doctor pulled Amy from the museum and back to the TARDIS where they headed off to the eighteen hundreds.

The Doctor and Amy were fortunate enough to run into Vincent Van Gogh and were invited back to his cottage. There they were confronted by dozens of canvases— works of his that Vincent thought were horrible, but that Amy and the Doctor thought were wonderful. Some of the paintings were ones that Amy recognized and there were a few, like the one he painted over in order to sketch the invisible monster that she had never seen before.

"Okay, okay..." the Doctor began as he took the sketch from Vincent. "Right. Amy, make Mr. Van Gogh comfortable. Don't let any invisible monsters in through the front door."

"But it could be outside waiting," Amy warned.

"Don't worry," the Doctor assured. "I'll risk it. What's the worst that can happen?"

Amy just glared at him. "You could get torn into pieces by a monster you can't see."

"Oh right," the Doctor conceeded. "es that. Don't worry. I'll be back before you can say "Where's he got to now" and with that said, the Doctor left. Amy turned to face Vincent, wondering what she should talk about with the famous or rather soon to be famous painter when the Doctor returned. 'Not that fast," he admitted as Amy jumped. "But pretty fast, see you around." And with that the Doctor was truly gone, leaving Amy and Vincent alone.

"He's a strange man," Vincent pointed out as he sat down. "Your Doctor."

"Yeah," Amy agreed. "That he is."

"There's just one thing I don't understand about him."

"Only one?'

"Well one among many," Vincent admitted. "I don't know who he is but who the Doctor pales in comparison to what he's seen. There is so much sadness within his soul, like he's carrying the burden of the entire world."

"Sometimes I think that it's the entire universe," Amy admitted with a sigh. "He's old and new all at the same time. When I first met him, I was just a little girl and he said that he wasn't finished yet. Whatever that means."

Vincent nodded. "It seems when one seems to live forever, one is forever changing. I know that it is the same with my painting. Each one seems to take a whole lifetime to complete, and then when I emerge from the creative storm I find that I still have endless days and days to go..." Vincent trailed off as a yawn interrupted his ramblings. "It seems as though this day has been endless."

"Then you should get some rest," Amy suggested as she led Vincent to his bed. "Rest now."

And rest Vincent did. Amy went out in search of the Doctor and brought him back to Vincent's cottage. The following morning she filled it with sunflowers and after watching one of the greatest and most prolific painters have a mini-break down— Vincent, Amy and the Doctor headed off towards the church.

Amy walked along side the painter with her arm tucked in his. It was a comfortable place to be Amy realized with a slight butterfly feeling in her stomach. It was something that she wasn't sure she'd ever feel for anyone other than the Doctor. She had sometimes had the excited butterfly feeling in her stomach in regards to Rory but those moments had been few and far between. In terms of the Doctor, well Amy had spent so many years trying to convince herself that he wasn't real that she in turn wasn't sure what her feelings for him were.

"I'm sorry you're so sad," she apologized as they walked together.

"But I'm not," Vincent assured. "Sometimes these moods torture me for weeks, for months. But I'm good now. If Amy Pond can soldier on, then so can Vincent Van Gogh."

Amy shook her head. "I'm not soldiering on," she stated. "I'm fine."

"Oh Amy, I hear the song of your sadness and it has been playing in your heart for a lifetime."

"What?"

"You've lost someone," Vincent clarified. "I think."

Amy shook her head again. "I haven't lost anyone. I'm not sad."

"Then why are you crying?" Vincent asked quietly watching as Amy put her hand to her cheek and wiped away a tear. Not only was she surprised that it was there, she was surprised at the sudden rush of emotion. "It's alright," Vincent soothed. "I understand."

"I'm not sure I do," Amy stated, feeling like a scared lost little girl.

"Okay. Okay!" the Doctor interjected. "So, now we must have a plan. When the creature returns,"

"Then we shall fight him again," Vincent answered as he stopped and turned to face the Doctor.

And fight the creature again they did. Amy had been told by the Doctor to stay with Vincent outside the church, but when they heard the Doctor's cry they rushed in to help him. The Doctor seemed both relieved and angry at the same time and after mentioning something about talking about how she never listened to him they continued to try and fight the creature. It was Vincent who ended up killing the creature, but only after they all realized that the poor thing was blind, abandoned and afraid. Winning suddenly didn't feel much like winning at all.

The Doctor and Amy were prepared to say goodbye to their new painter friend, but the Doctor had a much better idea. He took Vincent to the future, specifically the museum where all his paintings were housed and for one moment, the tortured man who thought that all he did would be for nought realized that his legacy would endure.

When the TARDIS returned Vincent to his own time, he seemed to be a changed man and said so himself. "I'll step out tomorrow with my easel on my back a different man," he assured his friends. "I still can't believe that one of the haystacks was in the museum. How embarrassing."

"It's been a great adventure," the Doctor stated as he shook Vincent's hand. "And a great honour."

"You've turned out to be the first doctor to ever actually make a difference to my life."

"I'm delighted," the Doctor thanked. "I won't ever forget you."

Vincent smiled and turned to Amy. "Are you sure marriage is out of the question?"

Amy laughed. "Yes," she answered as she hugged him. "I want to travel forever," she whispered in his ear before kissing him and following the Doctor back to the TARDIS.

Amy insisted that they go right back to the museum to see all the wonderful new Vincent Van Gogh paintings. "Time can be re-written," Amy exclaimed excitedly as she skipped ahead of the Doctor. She was so excited to re-visit the gallery and was so sure that there would be lots of new paintings. The Doctor warned her that he wasn't as sure as she was but she didn't listen. She didn't listen and when she came face to face with the same paintings, she was crushed.

"So you were right," she stated sadly. "No new paintings. We didn't make a difference at all."

"I wouldn't say that," the Doctor soothed as he walked to her. "The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. Hey," he paused as he hugged Amy. "The good things don't always soften the bad things but vice versa, the bad things don't necessarily spoil the good, or make them unimportant." The Doctor released his hug but still held onto Am. "And we definitely added to his pile of good things and if you look carefully," he paused as he led Amy to the painting of the church. "Maybe we did indeed make a couple of little changes."

"No Krafayis," Amy whispered.

"No Krafayis," the Doctor agreed.

The Doctor studied the church some more and Amy turned from him, walking to the centre of the exhibit. Out of the corner of her eye something caught her eye and she moved across the room to stare at the vase with the sunflowers, where she saw something that she had never seen before... it said 'For Amy' and she realized that she had indeed made a difference. The Doctor realized that too, and whistled when he joined her.

"If we had got married," Amy mused as she stared at the painting. "Our kids would have had very, very, red hair."

"The ultimate ginger," the Doctor agreed.

"The ultimate ginge..."

The Doctor laughed and Amy smiled.

"Brighter than sunflowers," Amy finished as the Doctor rubbed her back and gave her another one-armed hug. "With lots of imagination."

The Doctor sighed and led Amy out of the museum. "It's hard, isn't it?" he asked as they walked through the other galleries. "Wanting to travel the stars with one part of your heart but wanting a family with another."

Amy shook her head. "I don't want to settle down."

"I know," he assured. "But you can't tell me that the thought of having children with Vincent Van Gogh wasn't the least bit appealing."

"It was an idea," Amy admitted. "And maybe if I had stayed he wouldn't have k—" she broke off into a sob. The thought of that wonderful man killing himself, killed a little but of Amy inside.

"Somethings can be re-written," the Doctor explained sympathetically. "Somethings are in flux and something's can never change. Vincent's fate was one of those things. No matter how we changed history, big or small, the madness of the man would have won out in the end."

"Then what's the point," Amy asked. "If you can't change things..."

"The point is to live," the Doctor answered. "Live and learn and love..."

"Love?"

The Doctor nodded. "You have to love so fiercely."

"Then that's what I'll do," Amy promised. "I'll love and learn and live through every moment."

"That's my girl," the Doctor said with a grin as they reached the TARDIS.

"So," Amy began as she walked through the doors. "Where to next?"

"Got all of time and space at our finger tips," the Doctor answered as the TARDIS doors shut behind him. "We could go to the Fifth Moon of Sinda Callista which has the best beaches, or we could go to Toal Bypho a nice little planet that has the best aurora borealis. Oo! Then there's Stkin Piong."

"What's on Stkin Piong?"

"The cutest little critters," the Doctor whispered. "You'll love 'em."

Amy smiled and shook her head. "The beach sounds great. Let's go to the fifth moon of San—"

"Sinda Callista," the Doctor corrected. "The Fifth Moon on Sinda Callista it is then,"

And with that said, the Doctor pulled on a couple of TARDIS controls and the little blue box went spinning off into time and space.

TBC

_Author's Note: Lol. Chapters are getting longer. This one is the longest yet. If you enjoyed reading it (or even if you didn't, but I really hope that you did) please leave a review. I so love reading your reviews!_

_Also, I really need to stop reading spoilers and interviews with Steven Moffet. As the days to the series six premiere get closer, I get more and more worried. (STOP READING IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE SPOILED)._

_._

_._

_._

_Someone is going to die in the first episode? Three lives are going to be changed forever in the mid-series cliffhanger? There might be more Time Lords out there? UGH So much information and no real context. There's seventeen days till series six starts and I'm already freaking out.  
_


	6. Not the Fifth Moon of Sinda Callista

DISCLAIMER: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC and their writers. I am getting no financial reward from this, I am merely borrowing the premise and characters for my own enjoyment and yours too hopefully. :D

* * *

**Chapter Six: Not the Fifth Moon of Sinda Callista  
**

"No Amy," the Doctor stated with a sigh as he looked out the doors of the TARDIS. "It's definitely not the Fifth Moon of Sinda Callista. I think I can see a Ryman's and..." the Doctor couldn't say anything more because there was a blast from inside the TARDIS. The Doctor was blown forward and landed on the ground. "Amy?" he called out as he rolled onto his back. "Amy?"

But it was no use. Amy and then TARDIS vanished into thin air.

"Oh no, no no..." the Doctor muttered as he rose to his feet searching his pockets frantically. "Gotta find it, gotta find it," finally his fingers landed on what they wanted. An earpiece— emergency connected to the TARDIS. Not something that he used very often, actually when the Doctor thought about it, it was something that he had never used before and if at all but it was something that the Doctor was glad to have on his person at the moment. He stuck the earpiece in his ear and pressed it. "Amy?" he asked once more. "Amy can you hear me?"

"Doctor?" came her frightened reply. "Where are you?"

"Not inside the TARDIS."

"What do you mean you're not inside the TARDIS?"

"I mean that I was blown outwards and you disappeared."

"How could I disappear when I'm still,"

"Amy!" the Doctor shouted. "Under no circumstances open the door, do you understand..." he paused and waited for Amy to reply but he didn't hear one. "Amy? Amy!"

"I'm still here," she sniped back. "Alright. No opening the door."

"Excellent."

"Just one question."

"And what's that?" asked the Doctor.

"Why can't I open the door?"

"Amy you're in the time vortex," he explained. "The time vortex is a very, very unstable place. The TARDIS is specially designed to fly through but sometimes even she gets tossed around."

"That's an understatement."

"Amy listen to me," the Doctor ordered. "You open that door and the entire power of time and space will come crashing into the TARDIS. Now she might be able to handle it, just. But you... oh you... you'll be torn into little itty bitty atoms and spread throughout all creation."

"Okay," Amy stated in a quiet voice. "No opening the door."

"Amy?"

"I'm not going to open the door," she assured. "So what do we do now?"

"Now I find out what's causing the TARDIS to go all haywire..."

"And how are you going to do that?"

"By using the sonic," the Doctor stated as he pulled out his trusty tool. "If I can get the right resonance of the disturbance that's causing the TARDIS to go haywire..." he paused and and held up the sonic beside his ear looking for the right setting. "Aha!" he exclaimed cheerfully. "Found it."

"What does that mean?" Amy asked.

The Doctor held the sonic out in front of him and began walking.

"Doctor?" Amy asked again. "What are you doing?"

"Something is messing with my TARDIS. I intend to figure out what it is."

Amy sighed. "And what am I supposed to do in the meantime?"

"Hang on to something, and if the TARDIS tries to land again I want you to..." the Doctor began to ramble, trying to explain to Amy the best he could as to the best way to fly and more importantly land his beloved TARDIS. All the while that he was talking, the Doctor was walking forward into the unknown, certain that he would find whatever it was that was disturbing his TARDIS. As he walked and talked he thought of all the diabolical things that could interfere with such a sophisticated piece of Time-Lord technology. But when he came face to face with the source of his problems, he was surprised.

"It's a flat."

"What's a flat?"

"What's causing the TARDIS to go haywire," the Doctor replied as he looked at the estate which housed whatever it was that was causing his issues. "Problem is, I can't focus in on the signal."

"Well you're going to have to figure this out Doctor."

"But I don't have the TARDIS."

"You're a Time Lord. You'll figure something out."

.

Amy was right, the Doctor was a Time Lord but he couldn't get his sonic to focus in on the signal and so he had to spend the night in the local park. "It's cold," he muttered aloud knowing that Amy could hear him.

"Don't be a baby," Amy grumbled. "Lots of people have to sleep outside."

"Not me."

"Just for one night Doctor," Amy assured. "You're bound to figure it out tomorrow."

.

When the morning dawned the Doctor walked around the little town. He finally found himself passing a real estate office and noticed Amy's handwriting in the window. _Doctor, this one_ it said and it had an address and was above a picture of a nice little flat that seemed to be from the same area that the Doctor had traced the signal to. "Oh thank you Amy," he stated. "You've given me the address."

"How'd I do that?" Amy asked via the link.

"Well you haven't yet, but you will," the Doctor stated. "It says that the flat is available to rent, how do I rent."

"You need money."

"And how do I get money."

"Aside from having a job?"

"Yes," the Doctor whispered. "Can I get it from somewhere?"

"There's a hole in a wall,"

"Right," the Doctor exclaimed. "Saw one, hang on a sec."

.

"Doctor" Amy asked from within the TARDIS, but it was no use. The Doctor wasn't answering. He did answer eventually though saying that he had found the flat. Back and forth the conversations went, Amy gave the Doctor not so good advice about blending in and he in turn asked Amy to go looking for the plans.

In the end, no more humans were killed and Amy was reunited with the Doctor in the TARDIS that was no longer acting up. "Right little matchmaker aren't you" she commented with some amusement. "Can't you find yourself someone?"

The Doctor paused, and Amy instantly wished that she could take back her words.

"Sorry," she apologized.

The Doctor shook his head. "Don't be sorry. It was a long time ago."

"I know," Amy muttered. "But still..."

"Still..." the Doctor paused and listened to the , rectifier's playing up again, hold on..." he paused and ran up to a different portion of the control room. You right the note and I'll change that..."

Amy sighed and did as she was told, wondering where they'd go next.

.

Amy walked by the flat that the Doctor had stayed in and petted the cat that had helped him so much. She thought she heard her name being called and looked over her shoulder so see if someone or something was there. At first she didn't see anything but then she thought that she caught a glimmer of light with the Doctor standing in front of it. Thinking that it was just a trick of the light Amy turned away and began walking in the opposite direction, thinking that all that time alone in the TARDIS with it going completely haywire all around her had driven her a little bonkers.

* * *

_Author's Note: A shorter chapter, but considering all that really needed changing was the ending where Amy found the engagement ring because at this point she isn't wearing it. _


	7. Chocoelixer of Life

DISCLAIMER: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC and their writers. I am getting no financial reward from this, I am merely borrowing the premise and characters for my own enjoyment and yours too hopefully. :D

**Chapter Seven: Choco-elixer of Life **

"So?" Amy began excitedly as she re-entered the TARDIS from putting up the note that she had left so that the Doctor could find the house that held the pseudo-TARDIS. "Beach?"

"No," the Doctor answered as he worked the controls.

"No?" asked Amy. "What do you mean by no?"

The Doctor smiled at Amy, clearly teasing her. "I mean no, not yet."

Amy relaxed. "Oh."

"We just have to make one stop and then we'll be off to the beach."

"What kind of stop?"

The Doctor grinned at her. "The best kind of stop."

He pulled a lever down on the console and the TARDIS whirred and landed with a shudder.

"There," the Doctor said excitedly as he checked the monitor to make sure that he was where he had wanted to be. "Take a look outside," he stated as he realized that he was indeed where he wanted to be. He watched as Amy, smiling like a little girl ran to the doors of the TARDIS. She threw the doors open, excited to see something wonderful like a space port or something, but instead she saw that they were in a storage closet.

"Need to get some supplies to clean up the TARDIS?" she asked as she turned to face the Doctor with a frown on her face.

"What?" the Doctor asked, clearly perplexed as he ran to her side and peeped through the open door. He laughed. "Oh. I'm just a few feet off," he assured as he took her hand. After locking the TARDIS behind them, the Doctor led Amy out of the storage closet, down a drab and unfinished service hallways and into the place that he had wanted to show her all along.

"A mall?" Amy asked, feeling very confused.

"Yes a mall," the Doctor confirmed. "But not just any mall. This is the Starwood Centre."

"What makes this mall so special?" Amy asked noting that the various alien species that she couldn't ever imagine was more like the space port that she had wanted to see all along. "Aside from the oh so obvious non-human clientele"

"This mall isn't your normal mall at all," the Doctor explained excitedly. "It's eight stories high and encompasses nearly two-thirds of the Moon of Actanu Mufir."

"Nearly two thirds?"

"Well every mall needs a parking lot."

Amy laughed. "Of course. So, why are we here Doctor? Surely not to do something so domestic as shopping."

"Hey now, shopping isn't so domestic," the Doctor defended. "It's nice to go wandering through markets of time and space. Never know just what you're going to find when you go wandering through a commercial centre. Why you might end up with a little pet, or a necklace that can help you see into the minds of others— which is a very bad idea 'cause one can never be so sure if seeing into the minds of others will bring more pleasure or pain and—"

"Doctor?" Amy interrupted. "Why are we here? To shop?"

"Yes," the Doctor conceded. "And to pick up supplies while we're here."

"We don't need much for the beach," Amy pointed out. "We could nip back to mine and get my suit and beach bag and stuff."

"Oh but why use what you already have when you can get something brand new?" the Doctor asked with a grin. "Besides the TARDIS has the best wardrobe in all creation. I'm sure you could find something that you like."

"Okay," Amy stated. "So if we're not here to get new beach ware, what kinda supplies are we going to get?"

"We are here for what must possibly the best thing in the entire universe," the Doctor teased. "we are here for the most delectable, the most delicious the most—" the Doctor paused in both speech and step. "Oh no."

Amy looked in the direction that the Doctor was looking and all she saw was a very busy chocolate shop. "You don't like sweets?" she asked.

"Oh I love sweets," the Doctor assured her. "Sweets are me."

Amy rolled her eyes at the Doctor's babbling. "Then what's the problem?" she asked.

"The problem?" the Doctor asked in a manner that made Amy question if she was supposed to know what he was talking about. "The problem is that this store is all wrong."

Amy glanced back at the store but didn't see what the Doctor saw. "Seems alright to me."

"That's because you've never been here before," the Doctor grumbled. "This used to be the Choco-lota-lock-late store," he explained. "Not it's some hideous remake called the Chocolistic Inc."

"Chocolixer, chocolixer!" a female voice cried out, enticing passing shoppers to either walk into the store or stop and listen to what she was saying as though she was some peddler at a carnival "Come and get your Chocolixer There's no ailment that it can't cure, no malady that it won't be rid of. Made with our one-hundred percent total chocolistic guarantee, just one spoonful of our stuff will have you feeling better in a nano-second."

"Sounds pretty good," Amy muttered to the Doctor.

"Sounds too good to be true," he replied.

"And the best part of our drink," the greeter woman continued "Is that it's great for the whole family. Your mother will love it and so will your father. Buy our minilixer for your kids, or your cousins or your younger siblings. There's even an extralixer for any elderly folks in your family. So what are you waiting for people? Step right up, come right in and take a look around. If you don't believe me," she paused momentarily for effect. The entire audience that had gathered, including Amy held their breath, anticipating her next words. "Try a free sample."

All at once there was a stampede towards the greeter. All who had been listening were suddenly clamouring for a sample. To the Doctor they looked like a pack of ravenous dogs chomping at the bit to get what they wanted without waiting in an orderly fashion.

"Well?" Amy asked as she glanced towards the Doctor, wondering why he wasn't asking for a free sample. "Shall we get ourselves a sample of this miracle drink?"

The Doctor shook his head. "I don't think so."

"Why not?"Amy pouted.

"Look at them," the Doctor said. "They can't help themselves."

"They're excited for the product."

"They're under some spell or something is more like it," the Doctor extrapolated, pausing as a sample cup came rolling out from under the feet of the crowd. Before he could say anything, Amy made a move to grab it. However the Doctor was faster and he was able to hold it out of her reach.

"Hey!" she exclaimed greedily. "It's mine!"

"No it's not."

"It came to me," Amy protested

"Amy stop!" the Doctor ordered in a voice that caused Amy to stop reaching for the cup. She watched in stunned silence as the Doctor studied what little liquid was left in the cup. Sight and sound were the only two senses that he utilized. He figured that there was something in the lixer itself which made it highly addictive and he wasn't going to take a chance of it being absorbed via smell, taste or touch.

When the Doctor looked at what was left it looked like nothing out of the ordinary, plain chocolate milk as far as he was concerned and when he listened very carefully to the molecules moving within the liquid he was surprised to hear nothing out of the ordinary either. "I wonder what you are," he murmured to himself as he scanned the drink with his sonic screwdriver. "Tell me your secrets."

The sonic did it's work and soon the Doctor was getting all sorts of readings. "Now that's interesting," he whispered as he looked up to the shop which was now extremely packed to the point of bursting with people. "That's very interesting."

"What's interesting?" Amy asked, finding her voice at last. "Doctor what is it?"

"According to my readings this drink has remnants of the philosophers stone in it."

Amy's brow furrowed. "Isn't that that thing from Harry Potter?"

"Oh JK," the Doctor murmured. "She can be brilliant sometimes but in terms of that she kinda missed the point."

"Care to explain Doctor?"

"The Philosophers Stone was created by Nicolas Flammel circa the sixteen hundreds but he wasn't some human alchamist. He was an alien from the planet Hilthafa Mironto and he was looking for away to live forever."

"Did he exceed?"

The Doctor nodded. "Far too well. For a little while there no one would die. It was a mess of epic proportions. With Flammel's help we managed to reverse the curse but the formula for eternal life was out there. This elixer has taken from that formula, but modified it enough that the effects are more slow acting."

"So what do we do\?" asked Amy. "Eternal life, not good yeah?"

"Yeah," the Doctor nodded. "Not good at all."

"Do you have a plan?"

The Doctor looked down at Amy. "Course I have a plan," he assured. "Plans are what I do."

.

The Doctor's plan consisted of two things, going back to the TARDIS and waiting till the mall shutdown for the night. Once it did he and Amy snuck back to the chocolate shop where the Doctor used his sonic to get them through the door. "You know I really don't like how you use that thing to break and enter,"

"Like I've said before," the Doctor defended. "Sonic and enter, totally different."

"Yeah but what kind of example are you setting for me?" she asked. "What you're doing—"

"Hey now," the Doctor interrupted. "No dissing of the sonic. It's gotten me out of more jams then I can count and it's gotten me into a fair lot of places as well," with that said the store doors swung open and the Doctor smiled at Amy. "Now are you coming or not?"

"Oh I'm coming," Amy replied with a smirk. "Someone's got to watch your back."

The Doctor grinned even wider and led the way with Amy following close behind. Once inside the shop, aside from the overwhelming smell of chocolate nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. "We'll have to check their computer systems," the Doctor state,d talking more to himself than anyone else. "The formula's bound to be there, I doubt that they'd keep it off site, all chocolate in the store is created in house..." the Doctor continued babbling on as he went into the back room looking for the main computer terminal while Amy took a look around.

The store wasn't large by any stretch of the imagination and Amy marked it out with her feet. It was about nine steps (with a normal stride) long and about seven steps wide. The walls were filled with boxes upon boxes of chocolate and there was a case filled with individual chocolates near the registers and behind that was a counter that was filled with several different drink machines. Amy was momentarily tempted to sneak behind the counter and try some of the forbidden liquid when the Doctor suddenly poked his head out of the back room. "Leave it alone Pond," he ordered, startling her completely "And come see what I see."

Amy shook herself out of the daze and followed the Doctor into the back room. If she had thought that the main floor of the shop was chalked full of goodies then the back room was nearly bursting. Cases of chocolates were piled in stacks that went around the entire space with the exception of a small desk with a computer screen attached to it.

"See this?" the Doctor asked as he pushed Amy down into the single computer seat.

"It's a computer."

"Not just any computer, it's a incredibly advanced computer with a formula that has been banned throughout the galaxies and it's set up to a chocolate creator that is making everything in this shop not only taste super good, but it's giving the people slightly extended lives."

"And you can't have that?"

The Doctor shook his head. "No of course not. People living when they're not supposed to, messes with history it does. Oh sure I'm not about to go around stopping people from living but I've got to shut this place down," he paused and took out his sonic to once again scan the computer terminal. "The problem is, is that this thing is deadbolt sealed. I can't use my sonic to disrupt it."

"And that's the point," came a dark voice behind them. Amy and the Doctor turned to see the greeter woman from before standing between them and the shop.

"Ah," the Doctor muttered, hating the trapped feeling that he was getting. "Hello there."

"Who are you?" the woman asked angrily. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm the chocolate inspector and this is my associate," the Doctor lied as he took out the psychic paper. "I'm here to—"

"Save your breath," the woman interrupted. "Your psychic paper doesn't work on me."

"Darn," the Doctor stated as he put the paper back in his jacket. "So what's the deal here?"

"Deal?" the woman asked with a maniacal grin. "I'm just bringing happiness to people."

The Doctor shook his head. "No you're tampering with their lives."

"And who's to say that that is a bad thing?"

"We do," Amy answered as she turned her chair back around to face the woman. Unbeknownst to the greeter or even the Doctor, Amy had gone back to the terminal and started messing around with it. She wasn't much of a techie but she knew the best ways to muck up a computer and muck up the chocolate shop's computer she did. The whole system started shorting out, and the chocolate creator started smoking. The Doctor turned to the terminal and saw that the formula had completely been erased from the memory and the backup memory.

"Ha!" he exclaimed with a smile as he kissed Amy on the top of her head. "Brilliant!"

"What have you done!" the woman screeched.

"Shut you down," the Doctor answered coldly. "I'm sorry but this couldn't have gone on."

"Doctor," Amy warned as she felt a rumbling beginning.

"Right," the Doctor agreed, knowing what she was going to say. "Out stayed our welcome I think," he took her by the hand and helped her to stand up. "Come on Amy, let's go."

They were able to get by the greeter woman because she ran to the computer terminal and tried to repair the damage that Amy had wrought but it was no use. "You can't stay here!" the Doctor shouted from the shop doorway. "It's going to blow!"

But the greeter did not listen, and so the Doctor turned and exited the shop. He and Amy were just about to head back into the service entrance where the TARDIS was parked when the entire chocolate shop exploded. Alarms started going and the Doctor shook his head. "Come on Amy," he ordered. "Let's get out of here."

Amy nodded and followed the Doctor back to the TARDIS. Once the doors were closed behind him, and the Doctor had the TARDIS take off, Amy turned to him with a sympathetic look on her face. "I am sorry," she apologized.

"For what?"

"Your favourite shop is gone."

The Doctor shrugged his shoulders. "I can always go visit it in it's past. Nothing's that gone is gone forever you know."

Amy smiled and nodded. "So beach now?" she asked changing the topic.

"Yes," the Doctor assured. "Beach. Go to the TARDIS closet and pick out what ever you'd like."

Amy squealed and took off, leaving the Doctor to pilot the TARDIS to their next destination.

_Author's Note: Alright, so this is the longest chapter to date, and I guess it's nice coming off the heels of that super short chapter that I gave you guys. :D The days to the series six premiere are counting down! I'm still terrified to find out what happens, I like the show the way it is and I'm all for plot twists so long as Amy, River and the Doctor come out of the series unscathed. Anyways, I'm done rambling. Leave a review please!_


	8. A Day At the Beach

DISCLAIMER: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC and their writers. I am getting no financial reward from this, I am merely borrowing the premise and characters for my own enjoyment and yours too hopefully. :D

**Chapter Eight: A Day at the Beach**

Amy came down to see the Doctor working madly at the controls without his tweed jacket on. He was grinning like a madman and seemed quite excited. "Well?" she asked as she twirled in front of him. "What do you think?"

Amy had picked out thong sandals, short shorts, a blue and white Hawaiian print shirt and pink rimmed glasses. She looked at the Doctor over her glasses as he nodded his approval. "Very nice," he stated with a grin. "But no suit?"

Amy winked at him. "The suit is underneath. You'll see it later."

"All of Space Florida will see it."

"Space Florida?" Amy asked. "What's so great about Space Florida?"

"The beach!" the Doctor re-directed with a grin as he began spinning a control. "The beach is the best. Automatic sand."

"Automatic sand? What does that mean?"

"It's automated, totally. Cleans up lolly sticks."

Amy shook her head at the Doctor's childishness and thought that she heard her name being called. She turned around and saw nothing, but the more she concentrated the more that she thought she saw the Doctor. _But that's impossible she thought to herself as the image of the Doctor faded. I can't have seen him could I?_ Amy shook her head slightly and turned back to the real Doctor who was piloting the TARDIS. She did remember the incident from before when the Doctor appeared on the street when she had been petting the cat but Amy had chalked that up to her imagination.

"You alright?" the Doctor asked, feeling as though there was something wrong with Amy.

"Course," she lied. "So. When do we get to the beach?"

The TARDIS gave a little jolt and the Doctor grinned triumphantly at her. "Now." They were on their way to the doors of the TARDIS when the phone began to ring. The Doctor continued going but Amy stopped, a feeling in the pit of her stomach saying that the phone should be answered.

"You going to get that?" she asked watching as the Doctor paused in the doorway to the TARDIS.

"No," he replied and with a shrug, Amy followed him out in to Space Florida which was unlike anything that Amy had ever seen, which was saying something 'cause she had seen a lot of things in the short time that she had been travelling with the Doctor and she was quite sure that she would continue to see things that she never thought that she would ever see but Space Florida definitely topped the list so far. It was a station in the shape of the actual original Florida, floating in space, a comfortable distance around a star that was very much like Earth's own sun and it was enclosed with dome over top that mimicked the sky. The beaches went on forever and in the interior of space Florida there were golf courses for those who were so inclined and there were marshes complete with cloned yet docile replicas of all the original flora and fauna and animals.

"This is the place to be eh Amy?" the Doctor asked as he lounged back on the beach.

"It's certainly a really nice place to relax," she agreed, tipping her sunglasses down so that she could see the Doctor all that better. "Though it is a little boring."

"Boring can be good," the Doctor defended. "Doing nothing is good."

"If you say so."

"I'm the Doctor," he assured "Course I say so. Besides, one doesn't need to be saving the universe every day of existence it can get really tiresome, don't you think."

"I'm not thinking right now," Amy replied with a cheeky grin as she leaned back. "I'm just going to sit back, relax and enjoy the day."

"Yes," the Doctor agreed. "Enjoy the day..."

_Author's Note: Super short chapter, I do apologize but it's mostly filler with the big season finale adaptation coming up next. Please leave a review though, I love to hear what you think!_


	9. From The Imagination of Amelia Pond

DISCLAIMER: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC and their writers. I am getting no financial reward from this, I am merely borrowing the premise and characters for my own enjoyment and yours too hopefully.

**Chapter Nine: From The Imagination of Amelia Pond **

When Amy and the Doctor returned to the TARDIS a week after they had left it, they found that the phone was ringing. "Well aren't you going to answer that?" Amy asked as she strode further into the TARDIS prepared to get changed out of her beach ware and into something a little more her style.

"Nope," the Doctor stated as he strode over to the phone and lifted it up and put it down quick.

"But it might be important," Amy reasoned.

"Don't care at the moment," the Doctor stated.

"But Doctor,"

"Go get changed Amy," he ordered, completely turning away from her. Amy clenched her teeth, hating when the Doctor yelled at her as though she was a child, and even though from his perspective she was a child she still did not like it at all.

.

She returned later and instantly went to the swing under the console room floor. She wanted to be away from the Doctor because she was angry at him. Very angry. She was his companion and he had no right to yell at her like that, not over something as absolutely trivial as asking about a phone. Amy knew that she should talk to the Doctor about it, but there was a part of her that just wanted to sulk on the swing. _If he wants to makes amends_ she thought stubbornly to herself _Then he can make the first move. _

"Vavoom!"

"Va-what?" Amy asked, looking up.

"Can't believe I've never thought of this before, it's genius."

"What's genius?" Amy asked as she made her way up to where the Doctor was.

"Landed!" he exclaimed excitedly as he headed for the door. "Come on."

"Where are we?" Amy asked.

"Planet One," the Doctor explained. "The oldest planet in the universe. There's a cliff of pure diamond and according to legend, on the cliff there's writing. Letters fifty feet high, a message from the dawn of time and no one knows what it says 'cause no one's ever translated it. Till today."

"What happens today?"

"Us," he answered, tapping her nose. "The TARDIS can translate anything, well almost anything. I bet she'll be able to translate this. All we've got to do is open the doors and read the very first words in recorded history."

The Doctor reached out and Amy placed her hand in his as they left the TARDIS.

They came into a tropical planet directly facing the cliff face. In large letters it read "HELLO SWEETIE" with additional greek symbols underneath. "Well now," Amy began with a smile as she glanced at the Doctor. "Seems like you're being summoned again."

The Doctor shook his head and stormed back into the TARDIS. "No way."

"Oh please?" Amy begged. "I want to see River."

"I said no," the Doctor stated. "I am not at her beck and call."

"But you have to go," Amy protested. "She might need our help."

"Our help?"

Amy rolled her eyes. "Alright, she might need your help. But I miss her, I want to see her again."

"Amy, Amy, Amy..." the Doctor sighed. "River Song is not to be trusted."

"And why is that?"

The Doctor shook his head. "Complicated. Don't know the full story myself."

"Then wait till you find out before you go all assuming on whether or not she can be trusted." she suggested.

The Doctor sighed and put his head in his hands. "Do I have to?" he mumbled.

"She's helped you in the past hasn't she?"

The Doctor nodded.

"Then yes," Amy assured. "You have to." The Doctor sighed again and manoeuvred himself around the console hitting controls until the TARDIS once again shuddered to a stop. They exited the TARDIS and Amy found that they were in a very nice spot. "Right place?" she asked.

"Just followed the co-ordinates on the cliff face. Earth, Britain" the Doctor stated as he checked his watch. "One-oh-two AM, wait. PM..." he paused and looked out over a large Roman encampment. "No...AD."

"That's a Roman Legion," Amy pointed out with a giddy smile.

"Well yeah. The Romans invaded Britain several times during this period."

"Oh I know," Am stated with a smile. "My favourite topic at school. Invasion of the hot Italians."

The Doctor was about to question Amy on that when a soldier came up to them. "Hi," he said.

"Welcome to Britain," the soldier greeted. "We are honoured by your presence."

"Well you're only human," the Doctor stated. "Arise...Roman person."

"Why is he honoured?" Amy asked.

"Cleopatra will see you now," the soldier stated before turning and walking off and because they had nothing better to go on, the Doctor and Amy followed the soldier. The soldier led them to a tent where they found a certain blonde waiting.

"Hello sweetie," she stated with a grin.

"River!" Amy exclaimed. "Hi!"

"Hello again Amy," River greeted with a smile of her own.

"You vandalized the oldest cliff face in the universe,"

River grinned. "You wouldn't answer your phone."

"See," Amy stated as she hit the Doctor on the arm. "Told you it was important."

River said nothing. She merely clapped her hand and was presented with a scroll which she then gave to the Doctor. "What is that?"

"It's a painting," River answered. "From your friend, Vincent."

Curious, the Doctor snatched the painting away from River.

"One of his final works," River explained. "He had visions didn't he?"

"Yes he did," the Doctor snapped as he unrolled the painting.

"Well I thought that you'd want to know about this one."

"Doctor?" Amy asked as she saw the Doctor's face as he stared at the painting. "What is it?"

"It's the TARDIS," the Doctor answered slowly, showing the painting to Amy.

"Why is it exploding?"

"It's a warning," River answered. "Or at least I assume it is."

"Something's going to happen to the TARDIS?"

"It might not be that literal Amy," River stated. "Anyway, this is where he wanted you. Date and map reference on the door sign see?"

"Does it have a title?" the Doctor asked.

River nodded. "The Pandorica Opens."

The Doctor closed his eyes, everything since his regeneration had been leading up to this point and he was most displeased that it was happening at this particular moment in time. He had no idea what caused the TARDIS to blow up in Amy's time and he had hoped that he'd have more time to figure it out. However seeing how that wasn't about to be the case the Doctor along with River and Amy searched Salisbury Plain for the Pandorica, which he reasoned would be under Stonehenge. And the Doctor was right.

While in the underhenge the Doctor realized that the stones were acting as a transmitter and that there were an un-countable number of ships flying about them. The Doctor knew that the Romans were the greatest fighting force in all history and sent River to speak some sense into them while he and Amy returned to examining the Pandorica.

"What I don't understand," she began as the Doctor examined the box. "Is what has this got to do with the TARDIS?"

"Nothing as far as I know," the Doctor answered.

"But Vincent's painting," Amy pointed out. "The TARDIS was exploding. And he wanted us here. Is it going to happen?"

"One problem at a time Amy. There's force-field technology inside this box. If I can enhance the signal, I could extend it all over Stonehenge. Could by us half an hour."

"What good is half an hour?" asked Amy.

"There are fruit flies that live on Hoppledom Six that live for twenty minutes," the Doctor explained. "And they don't even mate for life...there was going to be a point to that," he promised. "I'll get back to you."

"Doctor..."

"Remember that night you flew away with me?"

"Course I do," Amy stated with a small smile. "Helped me save my life."

"You asked me why I was taking you and I told you that there wasn't a reason,"

"Right,"

The Doctor sighed. "I was lying."

"What?" she asked. "So you did have a reason?"

"Your house," he answered heavily.

"My house?" Amy asked. "What about my house?"

"It was too big. Too many empty rooms. Does it ever bother you Amy, that your life doesn't make any sense?" he asked quietly. The Doctor scanned Amy's face searching for some flicker of recognition and when he thought that he saw a glimmer, a laser fired from out of no where. Amy screamed and she and the Doctor hid on the opposite side of the Pandorica.

The Doctor and Amy tried their best to fight the remnants of the Cyberman but the Doctor got knocked out and Amy was backed into a corner. "You will be upgraded," the metal monster stated.

"Yeah?" she asked. "You and whose body?" Footsteps sounded and Amy was horrified to see the body of a Cyberman approaching. It picked up its left arm and head before once again coming after Amy but it wasn't working. He was too strong for her. "Doctor!" she cried out in fear as she fell through a double set of doors. "Doctor help me!"

The Cyberman completely cornered Amy and she realized that she was dead. "Doctor?" she asked in a small voice, certain that she'd be gone in moments when a sword was thrust through the door pinning the head of the Cyberman to it. Amy looked up and saw someone that she did not expect.

"Rory?"

"Hello Amy,"

"Sir," stated a second soldier. "The man's coming round."

"Amy!" the Doctor cried out. "Where's Amy."

"She's fine," Rory assured.

"I'm fine Doctor," Amy stated.

The Doctor sighed. "Oh good. And Rory's here to protect you...wait. Rory?"

"Leave us soldier," Rory ordered and the other soldier left the trio alone.

"What are you doing here?" the Doctor asked.

"How did you get here?" Amy asked at the same time.

Rory shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. One minute I'm walking away from you, trying to figure out what to tell our families and the next minute I"m here and a Roman with Roman stuff in my head. A whole other life. I was beginning to think that it was all a dream, until I heard talk of a red-haired girl and a funny looking man."

"I'm not funny looking," the Doctor protested.

"Yes," Amy assured "You kinda are."

"That's beside the point," the Doctor stated and while he would have wanted to talk to Rory further he realized that there wasn't really any time. The Pandorica was opening and all his enemies were coming to claim it. Using words and words alone the Doctor managed to scare them off and left Rory and his soldiers to keep watch while he and Amy tried to figure out what was going on with the Pandorica.

River contacted him them, from Amy's time. The TARDIS has whisked her away there and she let him know that none of it was real. "If they've been to her house, they could have used her psychic residue. Structures can hold memories. That's why houses have ghosts. They could've taken a snapshot of her memories but why?"

"So this is all my fault?" Amy asked, feeling like the worst person in the world. "My favourite period in British history, my favourite story about the box. My guilt over leaving Rory?"

"You feel guilty?" the Doctor asked turning back to Amy. "Do you love him?"

Amy shook her head. "No but,"

"It's a trap," River concluded, her voice coming through the communicator. "They used Amy to construct a scenario you'd believe. To get close to you."

"Why?" the Doctor asked. "Who'd do that? What for? It doesn't make sense."

"If this is my memory causing this then I can stop it yeah?" Amy asked. "I can fix this?"

The Doctor wanted to answer Amy but all of a sudden he was too busy dealing with River. She was in June 26, 2010— the day that the TARDIS was to blow up and she couldn't get the blue box to escape from there. All three heard the voice saying _SILENCE WILL FALL_. "Listen to me," the Doctor ordered into his communicator. "Just land her anywhere. Emergency landing now. There are cracks in time. I've seen them everywhere and they're getting wider."

But it was no use. River couldn't land the TARDIS and the Doctor and Amy suddenly found themselves surrounded by Roman soldiers— Nestene duplicates as the Doctor figured out and while two of them held fast onto Amy, the Doctor was horrified to see the underhenge fill up with all his enemies who all watched as he was placed into the Pandorica.

"You lot," he stated wearily. "Working together. An alliance. How is that possible?"

"The cracks in the skin of the universe," a Dalek began.

"All reality is threatened," a Sontaran continued

"All universes will be deleted," a Cyberman added

"What?" asked the Doctor not understanding. "And you've come to me for help?"

"No," a Sontaran corrected. "We will save the universe from you."

"From me?"

"The Doctor is trying to save the universe," Amy protested

"All projections correlate," a Cyberman stated. "All evidence concurs. The Doctor will destroy the universe."

"No, no, no," he assured. "You've got it all wrong."

"The Pandorica was constructed to ensure the safety of the alliance."

"A scenario was devised from the memories of your companion," a Dalek added.

"That's cheating!" Amy argued. "It's not fair."

"A trap the Doctor could not resist," a Sontaran finished.

"The cracks in time are the work of the Doctor," a Dalek explained.

"No, no, no. Not me. The TARDIS. And I'm not in the TARDIS am I?"

"Only the Doctor can pilot the TARDIS," a Dalek pointed out.

"River can," Amy argued. "The Doctor taught her. I've seen it myself."

"Please!" the Doctor begged. "Listen to me!"

"You will be prevented," a Dalek warned

"Total event collapse!" the Doctor cried. "Every sun will supernova at every moment in history. The whole universe will have never existed. Please! Listen to me."

"Seal the Pandorica," a Cyberman ordered

"No!" Amy cried out.

"No!" the Doctor cried out at the same time. "Please listen to me! The TARDIS is exploding right now and I'm the only one who can stop it. Listen to me!"

But it was no use. The Pandorica was slammed shut.

_Author's Note: So yeah, lots of things changed in this version of how the Pandorica opens. Rory is there but he's not dead when he becomes a Roman and because Amy hasn't forgotten him she's downstairs with the Pandorica when it opens. I didn't want to have Rory in this at all but when trying to think of how Amy was going to get away from the Cybermen I realized that there was no way. She would either need Rory's help or else she'd be dead. So yeah, I hope you enjoyed it. The next chapter will be posted soon. Please leave a review! (And OMG there's like seven days till series 6 premieres! ACK! So exciting!)  
_


	10. At The End of All Things

DISCLAIMER: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC and their writers. I am getting no financial reward from this, I am merely borrowing the premise and characters for my own enjoyment and yours too hopefully.

**Chapter Ten: At The End of All Things**

The Pandorica slammed shut and Amy felt as though her whole world was crashing down around her. "Doctor!" she cried out, struggling against her captors. "Doctor!" And then suddenly Amy was free. She fell to the ground and turned around to see that all the enemies of the Doctor had turned to stone. "Oh my god," she muttered, suddenly wondering what had happened to Rory.

Amy ran as quickly as she could from the underhendge just in time to see the last of the stars go super nova. "Rory?" she cried out, tearing her eyes away from the starless sky. "Rory where are you?" Amy scanned the dark horizon looking for him but Rory was no where to be seen. _Doesn't matter, _she thought forlornly to herself. _He wasn't real. He wasn't really here in the first place. _

"The Doctor," Amy muttered aloud, racing back down into the underhenge. The Pandorica was still there, glowing it's eerie light. "Doctor!" Amy cried out hitting her fists against it. "Doctor! Can you hear me? Doctor, the stars are gone. What do I do? What can I do? Doctor...?" her voice trailed off as her emotions began to over take her. "Doctor I need you," she whispered, resting her head against the side of the Pandorica. "I can't do this without you."

"Course you can't," Came the Doctor's voice. "Which is why I'm here."

Amy turned to see the Doctor, alive and well outside of the Pandorica wearing a red Fez and carrying a mop. "Oh jeez, though I'd never see this bloody thing again," the Doctor murmured looking at the Pandorica.

"Doctor?" Amy breathed, not quite believing what she was seeing especially when he dissapeared again, reappearing without the mop.

The Doctor turned to her. "You need to get me out of the Pandorica," he stated as he pulled out his sonic screwdriver.

"But you're not in it anymore."

"Yes I am," the Doctor began. "Well, I'm not now but I was back then. Well back now from your point of view which is back then from mine. Time travel," he paused and grinned. "You can't keep it straight in in your head. It's easy to open from this side, just point and press. When you're done tell the other me, well the past me that you get to keep it for the Dalek."

"What?"

The Doctor's wild expression softened and he took Amy's hands. "You'll be fine. Good luck."

And with that said that Doctor was gone again.

"Wait!" Amy cried out to the now empty room. "What do you mean?"

She looked at the screwdriver in her hand and figured that she was to use it to get the Doctor out of the Pandorica. Doing as she had been told, Amy stood back, pointed and pressed. The doors to the Pandorica opened and the Doctor was released from his restraints.

"Amelia Pond," he murmured in amazement. "How did you manage this?"

"You gave me this," she answered holding out the screwdriver.

The Doctor pulled out his screwdriver from his pocket. "No I didn't."

"Then why are they the same?"

The Doctor stepped out of the Pandorica and held out his sonic to Amy's. When they touched, they sparked and Amy gave a little shriek. "Temporal energy. Same screwdriver, at different points in its own time stream. Which means it was me who gave it to you. Me from the future. I've got a future, that's nice." The Doctor paused and looked behind Amy. "That's not."

"I don't understand it," she stated. "One minute they were there, the next...that."

"History has collapsed," the Doctor explained. "Whole races have been deleted from existence. These are just like after-images. Echoes, fossils in time. The footprints of the never-were."

"Meaning?"

"Total event collapse. The universe literally never happened."

"And River?"

"Back in your time," the Doctor answered. "At the heart of the explosion."

Tears sprang to Amy's eyes. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah," the Doctor whispered. "Me too."

"So what about us?" she asked, changing the subject. "What's keeping us safe?"

"Nothing," the Doctor answered. "We're the eye of the storm, last light to go out."

"So do you have a plan?" asked Amy.

The Doctor nodded. "Bit of a plan yeah, and it all revolves around you."

"Me?" asked Amy. "Why me?"

"You are not an ordinary girl,"

"No?"

"No," he assured as he closed the Pandorica up. "You grew up with a time crack in your wall. The universe pouring through your dreams every night."

"And what does that mean?"

The Doctor looked at Amy sadly before casting his eyes down to the ground, spotting River's bag. "Don't know yet," he lied. "But I'm working on it."

"What are you looking for now?"

"A short cut," he answered. "We're taking one. River's vortex manipulator. Rubbish way to time travel but the universe is tiny now. We''ll be fine."

"So the future is still there then yeah?" Amy asked.

"A version of it. Not quite the one you know. Earth alone in the sky. Let's go and have a look. You put your hand there. Don't worry, should be safe."

Amy nodded and took a deep breath. "Geronimo then,"

.

The Doctor and Amy reappeared far into the future. The Doctor was hoping to find somewhere in the early 2000s but when he looked down at the vortex manipulator she saw that it was 1996. "Right," he stated as he looked up, noticing right away that several things in the museum were wrong like the Dinosaurs on Ice and the Nile Penguins. "Need to find the Pandorica. Where in the world could it be?"

"Doctor," Amy stated from behind him.

"Yes Amy?" he asked as he turned around to see the Pandorica looming over her. "Ah."

"So what now?"

"Now we open it."

The Doctor pointed his sonic at the Pandorica and opened it up much like Amy had. The light from the Pandorica spilled forth almost blinding them both. "Right now," Amy stated. "It's open. What do we do now?"

"Now I see if I can do what it is that I need to do to—"

"Exterminate!"

The Doctor and Amy turned around to see a Dalek moving towards them.

"On no..." he murmured.

"Exterminate!" the Dalek cried. "Weapons systems restoring. Exterminate."

"Run!" the Doctor cried as he took Amy's hand. They raced away from the Pandorica and past the Dalek. The Doctor stopped briefly at an alcove display showing North Africa and bumbled into a mannequin, taking a fez from it's head

"Doctor?" asked Amy. "What are we doing?"

"Don't know yet," he admitted as he turned to see that the Dalek was right there.

"Wait!" Amy exclaimed as she realized that she was holding the future screwdriver still. "You told me that I'd need this for the Dalek."

"Excellent!" he exclaimed holding out his own. "Setting four-eighty-nine-kay on my mark."

Amy made the necessary adjustments to her sonic. "Ready."

"And mark!"

The Doctor and Amy pointed their sonic's at the Dalek temporarily blinding it so that they could get out of the gallery and into the foyer.

"I don't understand," Amy asked. "How did the Dalek wake up?"

The Doctor shrugged. "My best guess would be that it was the light from the Pandorica," he explained as he picked up a mop, preparing to use it to block the door.

"Hey!" Amy exclaimed. "That's how you appeared to me when you gave me the sonic."

The Doctor nodded. "Right."

He tapped the vortex manipulator and disappeared.

When he reappeared he apologized and blocked the door before vanishing once more.

"Right then," he stated when he reappeared. "Paradox complete."

"And now?"

"Now I take my sonic back," the Doctor said as he took the screwdriver back from Amy.

"And?" she asked as he walked up the stairs.

"And now we go to the roof."

"What's on the roof?"

The Doctor was about to answer when the sound of someone using a vortex manipulator sounded and they saw another Doctor appear at the top landing. His jacket was smoking and Amy could see the look in his eye as he fell down the stairs, rolling to a stop. The actual Doctor rushed over and used the now one and only sonic on him.

"Oh god," Amy muttered. "What happened? Is that you?"

"Yeah it me," the Doctor stated quietly. "Me from the future."

Amy watched as the future Doctor opened his eyes. Without warning the duplicate sat up, grabbed the Doctor and whispered something into his ear before falling back onto the floor, seeminly dead. "Are you dead?" she asked. "I mean...is he dead?"

"What?" the Doctor asked as he stood. "Dead? Course he's dead," he muttered as he stepped over the body. "Right I've got twelve minutes, that's good."

"Twelve minutes to live?" Amy exclaimed, feeling her heart construct. "How is that good?"

"You can do loads in twelve minutes...suck a mint, buy a sledge, save all of creation."

"How?"

"Don't know yet," the Doctor admitted. "Working on it. Now, the roof."

"But we just can't leave you hear dead," Amy protested.

"Amy we don't have time to argue," the Doctor stated sternly. "We're alright right now but that's only because we're at the eye of the storm, but the eye is closing. If we don't do something soon, reality will have never happened. Today, it looks like just dying is a result, now come on."

_You won't die,_ Amy told herself silently as she followed the Doctor. _Time can be rewritten. You'll find a way. I know you will_. Amy followed the Doctor to the roof where it was daylight. The Doctor pointed a satellite at what Amy first thought was the sun but then learned that it was the exploding TARDIS. "Now," the Doctor murmured as he adjusted the settings on his sonic. "If I'm right,"

Suddenly Amy could hear a faint voice, coming through the sound of the explosion. "That's—"

"River," the Doctor answered. "Caught at the heart of the explosion." After explaining that the TARDIS kept River in a time loop to save her, the Doctor vanished and reappeared with her. Together, the trio made their way back downstairs to escape the Dalek was chasing them. Along the way the Doctor explained to them what he was planning, but twelve minutes after they had escaped the Dalek the first time, the Doctor was shot.

River fired at the Dalek, through it's eye stalk, killing it completely before she turned back to the Doctor. Amy watched as she saw that pain in River's face. She was heart broken that the Doctor was dying but Amy knew that he couldn't die because they had all those adventures left to experience. And then, before both their eyes the Doctor vanished.

"Where'd he go?" River asked, staring at the empty place where the Doctor had been.

"He went downstairs," Amy answered heavily. "Twelve minutes ago."

"Show me,"

"River," Amy began, her voice breaking. "He died."

"Show me!" River insisted and together the two made their way back downstairs.

When the got to where the Doctor's body had been left, Amy was surprised to see nothing.

"But he was dead," Amy muttered as she looked around. "Doctor?" she called out before turning to River. "But he died."

"Who told you that?" River asked with an amused smile on her face.

"Well, he did."

River shook her head. "Rule one, the Doctor lies."

_Author's Note: Yes I know that I've muddled with a perfectly good episode (I loved 'The Big Bang') but seeing how I've written Rory out I had to make some changes :) And yes, I know that this little story isn't over yet but I figured that it would be best to split it into two chapters seeing how much I'm transposing and adding. Hope you enjoyed it, not long till the actual thing now. While you're waiting, please leave a review!_


	11. At The Beginning With You

DISCLAIMER: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC and their writers. I am getting no financial reward from this, I am merely borrowing the premise and characters for my own enjoyment and yours too hopefully.

**Chapter Eleven: At The Beginning With You **

"The Doctor lies,"

Amy wasn't sure whether or not she liked what River was implying. Amy knew that the Doctor didn't always tell her the truth, and that made it really hard to trust him sometimes but she didn't like to think that he was a downright liar. Amy and River made their way through the exhibit hall which was now empty and saw through the double doors to the Pandorica room, that the Doctor was there.

"Doctor!" Amy cried out as she rushed towards him, followed closely by River.

River knelt down beside the Doctor and checked on him while Amy took a step back.

"Why did he have to make us a diversion?" asked Amy figuring out that the reason the Doctor had told them that he was dead so that his future self, his only self really could work unhindered.

"Doctor?" River asked, ignoring Amy. "Can you hear me? What are you doing?"

The light in the room from the exploding TARDIS got brighter. "What now?" asked Amy.

"Reality's collapsing," River answered. "It's speeding up."

"Doctor?" Amy inquired. "What are you planning on doing?"

The Doctor slowly regained consciousness. "Big. Bang. Two."

Amy blinked in confusion. "The Big Bang brought about the beginning yeah?

The Doctor said nothing, but nodded.

"And Big Bang Two will bring it back?"

Again the Doctor nodded.

"Oh!" River exclaimed.

"What?" asked Amy.

"The TARDIS is still burning," she explained. "It's exploding at every point in history. If you threw the Pandorica into the explosion, right into the heart of the fire..."

"Then what?"

River shrugged. "Then let there be light. The Light from the Pandorica would explode everywhere at once just like he said."

"And would it work?" Amy eagerly asked. "Will that bring everything back?"

"A restoration field powered by an exploding TARDIS, happening at every moment in history," River mumbled to herself. "Oh that's brilliant. It might even work," she paused and took the Doctor's sonic from his hands and ran it along the wires. "He's fixed the vortex manipulator the rest of the box."

"Why?"

"So he can take it with him, he's going to fly the Pandorica into the heart of the explosion."

For Amy it was all too much. She walked away from the Pandorica and stared out at the ever brightening sky while River helped the Doctor with the last few modifications. As Amy watched the TARDIS burn bright orange, she felt as though she was about to lose something monumental but she wasn't sure where that feeling was coming from.

"Amy," River began softly. "He wants to talk to you."

"So what happens here?" Amy asked. "What happens to us?"

There were tears in River's eyes. "We all wake up where we ought to be. None of this ever happens and we don't remember it."

"River," Amy hedged, almost afraid to ask the question. "Tell me he comes back too."

"The Doctor will be at the heart of the explosion," she explained.

"So?" asked Amy, not understanding what that meant.

" So all the cracks in time will close, but he'll be on the wrong side... Trapped in the never-space, the void between the worlds. All memory of him will be purged from the universe. He will never have been born. Now, please," she begged. "He wants to talk to you before he goes."

Amy was shocked. "Not to you?"

River shook her head. "He doesn't really know me yet. Now he never will."

Amy walked to the entrance to the Pandorica, and saw the Doctor sitting there, looking so old and so weary. The sight broke her head. "Hi," she began softly, not sure what to say.

"Amy Pond," he whispered weakly. "The girl who waited. All night in your garden, was it worth it?"

"Shut up," she answered awkwardly. "Course it was."

"You asked me why I was taking you with me and I said 'no reason' well I was lying."

Amy shook her head. "Not important."

"Yeah," the Doctor argued. "It's the most important thing left in the universe. It's why I'm doing this. Amy, your house was too big. That big, empty house. And just you."

"And Aunt Sharon," she defended.

"Where were your mum and dad? Where was everybody who lived in that big house?"

"I lost m Mum and Dad," Amy answered quietly.

"How?" he asked. "What happened to them? Where did they go?"

"I," Amy began, so prepared to give him an answer, but when she searched her memory, nothing was there. "I don't..."

"It's okay," he interrupted. "Don't panic. It's not your fault."

"I don't even remember," she whispered feeling absolutely gutted and totally afraid.

"There was a crack in time in the wall of your bedroom and it's been eating away at your life for a long time now. Amy Pond, all alone. The girl who didn't make sense. How could I resist?"

"How could I just forget?" she asked, not grasping it at all.

"Nothing is ever forgotten, not really," the Doctor assured "But you have to try."

The ground beneath them began to shake and the Doctor realized that his time was up.

"Doctor, it's speeding up." River warned as Amy stepped forward.

"There's going to be a very big bang," he explained, his face mere inches from Amy's as she placed his sonic in his pocket. "Big Bang two. Try and remember your family and they'll be there."

"How can I remember them if they never existed?" she asked as she looked into the Doctor's eyes.

"You're special," the Doctor assured as he leaned his forehead against Amy's. "Like I was saying earlier. That crack in your wall, all that time, the universe pouring into your head. You brought Rory back...you can bring them back, too. You just remember," he assured as he weakly kissed his fingers and brushed them against Amy's cheek. "And they'll be there."

"You won't," Amy stated as she backed away. "But I could remember you too yeah? If I can bring back my family then I can bring you back too."

"You'll have your family back," the Doctor stated sadly. "You won't need your imaginary friend any more."

"You're so much more than imaginary," Amy choked out.

"Amy Pond," the Doctor began. "Crying over me eh?"

"Course I'm crying," she answered. "I don't want to lose you."

"Oh Amy," the Doctor sighed. "Guess what?"

"What?" asked Amy, wiping a tear from her eye.

"Gotcha," the Doctor answered as the doors to the Pandorica closed. Amy walked backwards towards River, watching as the cursed box began to glow.

"Back," River warned as she pushed Amy out of the way. "Get back!"

Before either of them could say anything, the Pandorica launched itself into the sky leaving Amy and River with one word from the Doctor "Geronimo" and Amy shut her eyes and tried to hold on to the thought of the Doctor along side her parents.

.

It was the day of Amy's wedding. She woke up bright and cheerful. Her eyes traveled along her raggedy Doctor crafts and she marvelled at how real the dreams seemed to her, even on her wedding day. "Morning!" her mother greeted, causing Amy to sit up with a gasp. For a moment she wasn't sure that she had parents at all, though there was a part of her that knew that that was ridiculous.

Still as she was getting ready for her big day, she felt as though she was missing something massive and she called Rory. "Do you feel like you've forgotten something really important?" she asked after he had said hello.

"Yep,"

"Do you feel like there's a great big thing in your head and you feel like you should remember it but you can't?"

"Yep."

"Are you just saying that cos you're scared of me?"

"Yep," Rory said for a third time. "I mean—"

"Sokay," Amy interjected. "I'll see you later."

"Later Amy," Rory answered. "Love you."

But Amy had already hung up.

Amy's mother helped her daughter get ready and she couldn't help but notice how sad her daughter seemed. "You're crying sweetie," she said softly. "Is everything alright?"

"I'm sad," Amy answered. "Why am I sad?"

"Oh don't be sad sweetie. Now, let's put your finishing touches. Here's something new for you," her mother began holding out a necklace with a red pearl on the bottom.

"Oh Mum!" she exclaimed in joy. "How beautiful."

"And something old," her mother continued holding out a pair of earrings. "These were my mum's."

"Oh how amazing."

"I borrowed these shoes from your Aunt Sharon," her mother added holding out a box of shoes in tissue paper. "And this—"

"It's a blue book," Amy answered as she picked up the book. "And it's blank."

"Yes well I figured that it would be a great thing for you to do, you know journal writing."

_Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue_.

The words rang a bell in Amy's head and she slowly started to remember.

"Amy?" her mother asked.

"Do you remember when I was a kid," Amy began almost frantically. "And my imaginary friend."

"Not this," her mother sighed. "Not again."

"My raggedy Doctor Mum," Amy continued. "He wasn't imaginary. He was real."

"The psychiatrists we sent you too."

"I remember you!" Amy called out, taking a step back from her Mum. "I remember. I brought the others back, I can bring you home, too. Raggedy man, I remember you and you have made me wait through two lifetimes!"

Amy and her Mum waited in the silence and then the ground started to shake.

"I found you," Amy continued as she stepped back so that there would be room for the TARDIS to materialize. "I found you in words, like you knew I would. That's why you told me the story...the brand new, ancient blue box. Oh, clever. Very clever."

Though her windows were shut a wind began to blow.

"Amy," her mother asked stepping back to join her daughter. "What is this?"

"Something old, something new. Something borrowed, and something blue."

Right before their eyes the TARDIS materialized. When it solidified Amy went over her bed to knock on the door. "Okay Doctor, did I surprise you this time?"

The door opened and the Doctor peered through. "Er, yeah. Completely astonished. Never expected that..." he paused and looked out into her bedroom. "Oh look where I am, and what you're wearing. You're still getting married yeah?"

"No,"

"No?"

"No Mum," Amy answered. "I made my choice once," she paused and looked back to the Doctor. "And I stick by it."

The Doctor smiled at Amy before stepping out to introduce himself. "Hello you must be her Mum. I'm Amy's imaginary friend but look I'm here anyway."

"How very nice to meet you," her mother stated feeling rather overwhelmed.

"I'm just going to park the TARDIS outside, and I'll let you pack."

Amy nodded and watched as the TARDIS vanished. She instantly went to her window and breathed a sigh of relief when the TARDIS rematerialized there. Amy changed out of her wedding dress and into some casual clothes and pulled out a suitcase from underneath her bed and began throwing stuff into it. Her mother was asking all sorts of questions about the Doctor and Amy was prattling on about all her adventures with her raggedy Doctor.

She was making her way down to the TARDIS after saying a fond goodbye and a promise to be safe to her parents when she saw Rory running through her yard. "Amy!"

"Rory I—"

"I remember," he assured. "I just wanted to say goodbye. Again."

Amy smiled and gave her friend and former fiancee a huge hug. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry," Rory whispered back. "I'll be okay."

Amy pulled away and walked towards the TARDIS looking for the Doctor. She saw him whispering to River who had also joined the party in her backyard. When River had vanished the Doctor turned back to Amy. "Ready to go?" he asked.

"Oh yes."

"But you saved the whole of space and time," Rory pointed out. "Take the evening off."

The Doctor shook his head. "Nope. Too much to see and too much to do. Come along Pond."

The Doctor and Amy entered the TARDIS and the Doctor began prattling on. "Space and time isn't safe yet. The TARDIS exploded for a reason. Something drew the TARDIS to this particular date, and blew it up," the phone began to ring but the Doctor ignored it for the moment. "Why? And why now? The silence, whatever it is, is still out there, and I have to...Excuse me a moment," the Doctor paused and answered the phone. "Hello. Oh! Hello. I'm sorry, this is a very bad line. No, but that's not possible. She was sealed into the Seventh Obelisk. I was at the prayer meeting. Well, no, I get that it's important. An Egyptian goddess loose on the Orient Express…in space!"

Amy clapped her hands in delight.

"Hold on one moment," the Doctor continued before looking at Amy. "Goodbye?"

"Oh yes," she stated as she ran for the doors. She opened them up and shouted goodbye to her parents, and Rory before closing it again.

"Don't worry about a thing your Majesty," the Doctor stated with a smile. "We're on our way."

The Doctor hung up the phone and smiled at Amy as he pushed the TARDIS into action.

_Author's Note: I loved this chapter. It was so much fun to write! :D I hope you enjoyed it too! Please leave a review 'cause I'd really like to hear what you think of this particular adaptation. And OMG! Three days! There is three days until the series premiere! I'm so excited!_


	12. Orient Express in Space

DISCLAIMER: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC and their writers. I am getting no financial reward from this, I am merely borrowing the premise and characters for my own enjoyment and yours too hopefully.

**Chapter Twelve: Orient Express in Space**

"So can you explain to me what we're doing on a train in space?" Amy asked as she and the Doctor walked along the corridors to the compartment that he had bought for them. "How is this train even going through space, it doesn't even make sense."

"Amy, Amy..." the Doctor sighed as they finally entered their car. "It makes perfect sense."

"Then explain it to me," she stated as they sat down.

"There are eight stops on the Orient Express," the Doctor began. "Both this one and the one that used to run on Earth."

"Right but we're on a train... in space."

"Strictly speaking Amy, it's not a train," the Doctor corrected. "I mean not really. It's just a nostalgic adaptation of something that evoked a sense of luxury on Earth."

"So if it's not a train why does it look like a train on the inside and out?"

"Fancy aesthetics," the Doctor explained. "That's all."

Amy leaned back and nodded. "Alright. So back on the TARDIS you mentioned something about an Egyptian Goddess sealed into the Seventh Obelisk yeah? So what is that?"

"Well she's not so much of an Egyptian Goddess as she's a member of the same race that Zeus belongs to."

"So are all the gods real?"

"Real in the sense that they're a race of highly telekinetic and telepathic people who crash landed on Earth early in your history and set themselves up as benevolent deities until I was able to rescue the lot of them," the Doctor answered. "This particular 'deity' who goes by the name Aset used love and light as her weapons of choice."

"How can love and light be a weapon?"

"Her light could go anywhere and it brought with her, the love in her heart," the Doctor explained as he leaned lazily back into his seat. "It caused all who fell under her spell to be completely entranced. So entranced that they often forgot to eat or sleep or do anything really. She had to be sealed in the Seventh Obelisk because—"

"Because one through six were already taken?"

The Doctor just looked at Amy. "No."

"Then why?"

"Because one through six were already taken,"

Amy smiled. "So how'd she get out?"

"Who knows. But the Orient Express in Space was transporting the Obelisk from Newbul to Newaris and—"

"NOW STOPPING AT NEWENNA," the robotic yet female train announcer stated over the loud speaker that was routed into every corner of every car on the space train. "NOW STOPPING AT NEWENNA PLEASE TAKE ALL OF YOUR BELONGINGS AND HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY."

"Right," the Doctor stated as he stood up. "That gives us two more."

"Two more what?"

"Two more stops until Newaris,"

"Which is?"

"Which is really a short form for New Paris," the Doctor answered.

"But what happens when we reach the end of the line?" asked Amy.

"Aset gets out,"

"And then what?"

The Doctor sighed. "Then let there be light."

.

"You know River said that to me," Amy began as she and the Doctor began sneaking around the hallways of the space train.

"Said what?"

"Let there be light."

"When?"

"When you were in the Pandorica,"

"That never happened," the Doctor stated. "Not really."

"Well it happened to me 'cause I remember it," Amy stated as she hit the Doctor on the arm.

"Ow," he winced. "What was that for."

"That was for leaving me."

"I"m sorry," he apologized. "But I was trying to save all of creation."

"I know that," Amy stated. "But you still left me."

"It's not like I had a choice."

"Oh like you had a choice when I was seven, or when I was nineteen."

The Doctor paused and turned to look at Amy. "You should have a different set of memories now," he explained. "You grew up with your Mum and Dad."

"I know," Amy said, her voice quieting. "And thank you for helping me get them back but I...I still grew up with out you and everyone still thought that I was mad for believing in a raggedy Doctor..." she paused and placed a hand on the Doctor's face. "My Raggedy Doctor..."

Suddenly there was a loud explosion from up ahead and the Doctor took Amy by the hand and ran towards it, while passengers and train-staff were fleeing the source. "Come along Pond," he stated as he pulled her through the crowd. "The goddess is this way."

"Are you sure that we should be running towards her? I mean she did just blow up something."

"Ah I'm sure Aset will be pleased to see us," the Doctor stated as they came to the dining car where they saw a smouldering table beside which a beautiful exotic woman stood. "Hello Aset," the Doctor stated with a smile. "Long time no see."

"Who are you?" Aset sneered, her vivid green eyes glowing with power.

"Ah yes," the Doctor stated almost bashfully. "I have changed a fair bit. Gotten a new face since I last met you which if memory serves was just before I hopped back to the fifteen hundreds to meet good old Bess."

"As in Liz ten?"

"The first," the Doctor whispered to Amy before he turned back to Aset. "Now, why don't you tell me why in all creation you are here of all places wrecking havoc?"

"You are the Doctor," Aset whispered in a venemous tone.

"I am the Doctor!" he exclaimed. "Good for you, you worked it out."

"You imprisoned me."

"Again," the Doctor cheered. "Two for two."

"You shall feel my wrath..." Aset promised as she began to walk towards him.

"Let's not make it three for three eh Doctor?" Amy asked as she backed up, taking the Doctor with her.

"Right," he agreed as he took her hand. "Run."

Amy and the Doctor ran through the Orient Express before they realized that they needed to hide and re-group to come up with a plan. "Alright," the Doctor stated as he paused to look around.

"Doctor," Amy warned.

"Thinking, I'm thinking."

"She's coming,"

"Thinking Amy," the Doctor stated. "Don't rush the— aha!"

The Doctor pulled Amy into a storage closet and the two of them waited there, in very close quarters while they waited for Aset to pass. The Doctor, who was facing the door, saw via the light that sneaked under the crack— the feet of Aset as she walked right on by them. Amy picked up on his sigh of relief and relaxed herself.

"Can we,"

"Shush!"

Amy rolled her eyes. "Can we go now?" she asked in a hushed whisper.

"Not yet," the Doctor replied in a whisper of his own.

"Why not?"

"Because Aset is probably still out there now shush!"

The seconds passed, and Amy countered them off from the watch that she wore on her wrist. When she got to count three hundred and ninety-four she figured that they had waited long enough. "Let's go," she suggested.

The Doctor shook his head. "No way. Not yet. Still thinking."

"Well then tell me what River said to you while you're thinking."

"River?" the Doctor asked, clearly quite surprised. "You're asking about River?"

"Well it's not like I've got anything better to do right now," Amy stated as she looked up at the Doctor with a devilish look in her eye. "I mean if you really don't want to tell me what you talked about then I could try snogging you again and—"

"Alright," the Doctor stated with a note of panic in his voice, which caused Amy to smile inwardly to herself. Ever since that night after the Angels, when she had essentially tried to jump his bones, the Doctor had been very jittery every time she had shown the least bit of interest in him. Which was fine for Amy because she wasn't a hundred percent sure of how she felt for the Doctor. What Amy was sure of however, was the fact that she liked teasing him so.

"What did River say to you?"

.

The Doctor had just finished saying goodbye to Rory when he noticed another familiar face hanging back. Amy was still getting ready for their continuing adventures and he figured that he ought to return River's diary to her.

"Shame you didn't get to dance," she stated with a smile. "You always dance at weddings, don't you."

"You tell me," the Doctor stated with a saucy grin.

River shook her head with a smile of her own. "Spoilers.

"The writing's all back," the Doctor continued handing her the journal. "I didn't peak."

"Thank you," River stated, her tone holding so many meanings.

The Doctor handed her the votex manipulator. "Are you married River?" he asked.

River put the manipulator on her wrist. "Are you asking?"

"Yes."

River smiled. "Yes."

"No," the Doctor stated suddenly realizing something. "Hang on... did you think I was asking you to marry me o-o-or asking if you were married?"

"Yes."

"No," the Doctor countered feeling as though he was trapped. "Was that a 'yes' or a _yes_?"

River nodded. "Yes."

The Doctor shook his head, not knowing what to make of the woman in front of him. "River," he began finally. "Who are you?"

River looked at him with a sad look on her face. "You're going to find out very soon now sweetie," she stated in an endearing yet sympathetic tone. "And I'm sorry, but that's when everything changes."

.

"And then she disappeared," the Doctor finished.

"She just vanished."

"Yep."

Amy shook her head. "She is so your wife."

"She didn't say that."

"Doesn't need saying," Amy pointed out. "She calls you sweetie, and my love—"

"Terms of endearment only I'm sure."

"She scares you," Amy pointed out. "How can she scare you?"

"She's from my future," he explained. "I don't like knowing my future."

"But a future with her could be good yeah?"

The Doctor shrugged. "We certainly seem to have had lots of adventures."

"Well that's a good thing yeah?"

"She told me once to watch how we run," the Doctor continued.

"Well a very good thing," Amy assured. "Seeing how you're always running from something."

"But she's not to be trusted," the Doctor insisted. "She killed someone. And as much as I want to know who it is that she killed or why she's in Stomcage, Father Octavian told me that I didn't know who or what she is and that worries me."

"Well you should stop worrying," Amy suggested. "You're going to meet up with her whether you like it or not and you better just deal with it and worry about figuring her out later."

The Doctor smiled. "Amy Pond, brilliant as ever..." he stated fondly before looking past her towards the door. "Right then, got a plan now. Let's go."

.

"NEWINCH," the announcer stated as Amy and the Doctor slunk through the train. "NOW STOPPING AT NEWINCH. PLEASE TAKE ALL OF YOUR BELONGINGS AND HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY."

"One more stop then yeah?" asked Amy.

"Yeah," the Doctor confirmed. "And then Newaris."

"So we've got to hurry."

"Oh yes," the Doctor agreed. "We have to hurry."

.

However, hurrying was something that the Doctor and Amy couldn't control because soon they were speeding away from their last stop towards Newaris with no sign of Aset. "We've got to find her," Amy pointed out. "Time is running out."

"You don't need to tell me Amy," the Doctor snapped, his anger momentarily getting the best of him. "I am well aware that time is running out..." he paused and noticed the shocked and hurt look on Amy's face and instantly he softened. "Amy I—look out!"

But it was too late. Aset had sneaked up behind Amy and how had the young scottish women in a a death grip. "Doctor, Doctor. It's the end," she taunted. "For you know this is the end."

"This can't be the end," Amy stated as best she could. "Not for me and not for him."

"Aset," the Doctor began slowly. "Let her go."

"You plan to put me back in the obelisk."

The Doctor nodded. "I have to and you know it."

"Why when I bring light to the world."

"You control people," the Doctor answered. "People must have free will."

Aset shook her head. "Free will brings pain and suffering. I bring light and love."

"You may bring light and love but you do it a way that the people who are under your light can't think of anything else," the Doctor agreed. "Aset it's not natural. People can experience your love and light but they can't be consumed by it."

Aset pouted. "I don't see why not."

"Which is why you need to go back into the obelisk," he stated, holding the small crystal obelisk which was a conduit to the larger one in storage before the Egyptian goddess. "Now, by Section Forty-Two-Kay of the Shadow Proclamation, I command that you return to your obelisk."

Aset shook her head. "I will not."

The Doctor sighed and took out his sonic, and held it to the crystal. "So be it."

Before Amy or Aset could even say a word, the Doctor turned on the sonic screwdriver and it resonated through the crystal. Aset screamed and released Amy who instantly put her hands to her ears to try and block out the high pitch sound. Without warning, Aset lashed out at the Doctor but before she could reach him, she was sucked into the crystal and the crystal vanished from his hands.

Amy took her hands from her ears. "What just happened?"

"I put the Goddess back in her prison," he answered.

"But how?"

"Crystal resonance," he explained. "Aset and her race come from a crystal world, it's one of the only way to control or imprison them."

Amy nodded. "Alright then, that makes sense."

"NOW STOPPING AT NEWARIS," the voice announced. "NOW STOPPING AT NEWARIS. PLEASE TAKE ALL OF YOUR BELONGINGS, AS THIS IS THE END OF THE LINE. PLEASE DEPART THE TRAIN AND HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY."

"So what do you think?" asked the Doctor as he turned to Amy. "Want to see New Paris?"

Amy shook her head. "I think we've had enough excitement for one day. Can we do something relaxing?"

The Doctor smiled and thought. "How about a cruise," he suggested. "They're always nice."

Amy nodded. "A cruise sounds wonderful, though I do get a little sea sick."

"How do you know?"

"Aunt Sharon took me to the coast when I was ten," Amy replied. "Not fun."

"Well don't worry," the Doctor assured. "There will be no seas with the cruise we'll be on."

_Author's Note: So this is how I imagined the adventure on the Orient Express in Space would have gone. One of the longer chapters and I hope that you all enjoyed it! And O.M.G. Doctor Who series six starts the day after tomorrow! I'm so excited, and nervous, and terrified, and worried and... yeah. Please leave a review for this chapter. I'd love to hear what you think of this. :)_


	13. A Song For Christmas

DISCLAIMER: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC and their writers. I am getting no financial reward from this, I am merely borrowing the premise and characters for my own enjoyment and yours too hopefully.

**Chapter Thirteen: A Song For Christmas**

The Doctor turned to Amy with a gleam in his eye and she found herself inadvertently blushing under his gaze. He had just set the TARDIS down and seemed as giddy as a kid in a candy shop. "You have something up your sleeve, yeah?"she asked as she sauntered towards the Doctor.

"What makes you think that that I've got something up my sleeve?"

"Well you said that you were taking me on a cruise, that's mighty romantic don't you think?"

The Doctor scoffed at Amy. "Don't be ridiculous, I just want to thank me."

"Thank me?" Amy asked, quite taken aback and all thoughts of teasing the Doctor gone. "Why?"

The Doctor's expression softened. "You've done so much for me," he answered. "You and you alone brought me back from the other side of the void and I just want to take you somewhere special as a thank you."

Amy shook her head. "There's no need for you to thank me."

"But there is," the Doctor insisted. "You've been so brilliant,"

"Yeah," Amy agreed with a smile. "I was wasn't I?"

The Doctor nodded. "You were. Now, come along Pond."

Together they exited the TARDIS and found themselves just feet from a line that was boarding a large space-cruiser. "Now this is exciting," Amy remarked as the Doctor handed her a ticket and a bag that she assumed was filled with her clothes. "We're going to have a lot of fun yeah?"

"Well strictly speaking you're the one who's going to have a lot of fun."

"You're leaving me?"

"Only momentarily," the Doctor assured. "You're going to get on this cruiser and—"

"But what about you?" she asked. "What'll you do?"

"Oh you know me," the Doctor stated with a grin. "I'll try to stay out of trouble."

"Well just see that you do," Amy ordered. "Cause I want a TARDIS to come back to."

"Aye ma'am," the Doctor agreed with a mock salute. "Now get going."

Amy smiled at the Doctor and then did as she was told. She joined the line and soon was indistinguishable next to the other guests. The Doctor wandered back to his TARDIS and decided to park her in orbit while Amy enjoyed her cruise. And Amy did enjoy her cruise, for a while that is. She enjoyed the spa's and the relaxation pools. She enjoyed talked to the people around her and everything seemed to be going wonderfully, until they hit some turbulence.

Amy, after flying in the TARDIS knew that some turbulence mean one thing, and other turbulence meant another thing. The turbulence that the space-cruiser was experiencing was the latter kind which was not the good kind at all. She rummaged through the bag, hoping beyond hope that she had something that would be able to contact the Doctor and she thanked her lucky stars that he had packed a walky-talky and she used it to send the distress signal to the Doctor.

Once the signal was sent, Amy made her way to the bridge of the ship. As soon as she walked through the doors, she saw all eyes go to her. "I've sent for help," Amy stated as she walked forward.

"Who the hell are you?" the female captain asked.

"Look there's this friend of mine okay," Amy began, knowing that she didn't have much time. "He can help us, he'll come."

"What are you wearing?" the captain asked and Amy looked down realizing that she was wearing her favourite outfit, high boots, short shirt, long-sleeved shirt and a scarf.

Amy laughed embarrassingly. "That doesn't matter."

"Are you from Suite five-oh-four?" the Captain asked.

Amy nodded. "Yes I am."

Amy wanted to say more but the crew members started to shout out all sorts of things and the Captain turned her attention back to her crew and the problem at hand. Amy just stood there, hoping that the Doctor would come and rescue her. "Come on Doctor, come on," she whispered as one of the crew members began talking about another vessel that was pulling up beside them.

"Just this once don't be late."

"Ma'am," a crew member stated. "Incoming message, from the other ship."

"On screen."

Amy watched, holding her breath as the words flashed across the screen. _Come Along Pond. _Amy closed her eyes in relief.

"What does that mean?" the Captain asked.

"It means it's Christmas," Amy answered with a smile.

.

Amy knew that the Doctor just couldn't save her. He needed to save the entire star-cruiser and so she stood upon the bridge, knowing in her heart that he would do anything and everything to save her. In bits and pieces Amy learned what was going on. There was an old man on the planet below who was controlling the clouds and the magical fish contained within. Song seemed to be the thing to resonate the crystals and Amy sang along with the rest of them, until she was transmitted to the old man, showing him what they were doing to try and save themselves.

In the end, all was well. The Doctor was able to save the star-cruiser and Amy. He was also able to save all the people that were being kept below as collateral. All was well and after a sleigh-ride Amy and the Doctor returned to the TARDIS.

"Can I ask you to do something?"

The Doctor looked at Amy. "What?"

"Don't send me off on a vacation again yeah. It's far too dangerous."

The Doctor laughed and flipped the controls of the TARDIS. "Alright then," he promised. "No more vacations."

_Author's Note: Tomorrow. Tomorrow is the series premiere! I'm so excited. Please leave a review for this chapter!_


	14. Fermentation

DISCLAIMER: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC and their writers. I am getting no financial reward from this, I am merely borrowing the premise and characters for my own enjoyment and yours too hopefully.

**Chapter Fourteen: Fermentation **

"Alright Amy," the Doctor began as he threw the TARDIS controls into park, he seemed to be really excited which made Amy bubble with excitement too.. "This is going to be great."

Amy laughed. "You say that about every place that we visit."

"Well I've got to make up for throwing you onto that ship,"

"You hardly threw me," Amy assured. "And besides, it was fun— sorta."

"Sorta is not what we want."

Amy shook her head. "So where are we?"

"You like drinking don't you?"

"Yeah," Amy confirmed. "But who doesn't."

"Well we are on Begii Nott where the finest bottles of wine in the entire universe are created."

"Ooo that sounds exciting."

"Certainly is," the Doctor agreed. "And we're going to get the grand tour."

"But Doctor," Amy began almost warily. "Don't you think we should be searching."

"Searching for what?"

"The silence," Amy answered, watching as a cloud seemed to fall on his face. "You said that the TARDIS was drawn to my time for a reason, and that you needed to figure out what it was. Don't you think that we should be doing that?"

"Working on it," the Doctor promised.

"Doesn't look like it."

"Well I can't go travelling all over the universe looking for some silence without knowing what the silence is,"

"So what are we doing?"

"We're doing what we've always been doing only we'll be keeping our eyes and ears out."

"For the silence,"

The Doctor nodded. "For the silence, whatever it is."

...

With the worry of the silence behind them, the Doctor and Amy exited the TARDIS only to be greeted with a new worry. They had landed right in the middle of the bottle storage, and instead of seeing workers monitoring the chemical process within the glass bottles, they found nothing and no sign of life. Worse than that, when they took a closer look at the bottles themselves they saw that there was a person suspended in each one.

"Good lord," Amy muttered as she placed her hand upon one of the large glass bottles. "What's happened to them?"

"I don't know," the Doctor admitted as he scanned one with his sonic. "They're alive."

"I don't see how."

"Do you see that device in their nose?"

Amy looked closer through the pale yellow liquid and saw what the Doctor meant.

"That's a breathing device, they're being kept alive in a sort of suspended animation."

"But why?" asked Amy. "What for?"

"I don't understand it," the Doctor muttered. "It just doesn't make sense. The Begii Notts don't do this. They outlawed it over four-hundred millenniums ago."

"What?" asked Amy curiously. "What did they outlaw?"

"The fermentation of humans."

...

At first Amy was absolutely shocked by what the Doctor was saying, but then he went on to explain that back in the days before humanity even took it's first steps out of Africa, the people of Begii Nott who were similar in design to the people of Earth, added a person to their wine making process. "It was added an extra body to the taste if you pardon the horrible pun," the Doctor explained. "Eventually they became enlightened and realized that they didn't need to sacrifice one of their own anymore."

"Then what are those people doing in there?" Amy asked. "And how can we get them out."

"I don't know," the Doctor admitted. "But I'm working on it."

"You always say that,"

"Yeah and have I ever not come through?" the Doctor snapped.

Amy shook her head. "No,"

"Then trust me."

"But you lie," Amy stated.

The Doctor stepped closer to look at her. "What?"

"I said that you lie," Amy whispered. "You lied to us when you said that you had died."

"That was once, and you understand why I had to do that..."

"But River said that you lie, and she knows you better than I do yeah?"

The Doctor sighed. "Amy you need to stop worrying about River."

"Have you ever stopped to wonder if it's River who kills you?" Amy exclaimed, watching the Doctor's face carefully. "I know that she doesn't seem like the type to kill you, and I still think that she's your wife and all but..."

"Amy—"

"Doctor you said that she was put in prison for killing a good man, a hero to many... what if you're that man."

"Technically speaking,"

"You're a bloke," Amy interrupted. "You're a male Time Lord and correct me if I'm wrong but you're a hero to many."

"I'm also an enemy to many," the Doctor pointed out wearily.

"Yeah but that doesn't mean much when you do so much good," Amy continued. "You're very old, and very kind but you lie..."

The Doctor sighed. "Amy, I am a very complicated person and I promise you this right now, in the Future I'll try not lie to you if you promise not to lie to me."

"I've never lied to you."

"Well, you forgot to mention that you were getting married."

"Alright," she conceded. "I get your point..."

"Excellent," the Doctor began as he gave Amy a small hug. "Now, let's see what we can't do to get these people out of here."

The Doctor and Amy wandered in and around the giant bottles, trying to figure out how to help the imprisoned people escape, but as the Doctor looked at the readings coming from his sonic screwdriver he realized that there was no way he could get them out without killing them. When he related this to Amy, she shook her head.

"There has to be a way," she assured. "There's always a way."

"I know and normally there is but,"

Alarms suddenly began blaring and the Doctor looked to Amy.

"Seems as though we've outworn our welcome."

The Doctor took Amy's hand and together they began to run. When the natives of Bengii Nott began to close in on them, they zig-zagged their way to the exit where they found themselves trapped. The Doctor placed himself between Amy and the people carrying guns.

"Alright," he began as he raised his hands in submission. "No need to shoot. We're not hostile."

"You are intruders," the leader remarked coldly.

"Yeah, sorry bout that. I tend to land where I don't belong,"

"The prisoner will be silent."

"I can never be silent," the Doctor stated defiantly.

"Doctor," Amy warned as she held onto his arm. "Play nice."

"Right, the Doctor agreed. "Now, tell me the plan."

"Kallin Nue will decide your fate," the leader stated, motioning for the Doctor and Amy to follow them. They did as they were told and the Doctor turned to Amy.

"One of these days that's actually going to work..."

Amy smiled patronizingly at the Doctor. "Course it is."

The Doctor and Amy were led through a labyrinth of halls before they came to a massive office. Sitting behind the large desk was a small, young woman. When she looked up, her eyes widened in delight. "Oh so you have come after all!" she exclaimed as she stood up. "The Doctor and his mighty Amy."

"Sorry?" Amy asked as the woman shook her hand. "How do we know you?"

"We've been here before," the Doctor stated.

"No," Amy contradicted. "We really haven't."

"But you have," the woman assured.

"Just not yet," the Doctor added.

Amy looked to the Doctor. "So you're saying that her past is our future?"

The Doctor nodded. "Yep."

"Like River?"

Again the Doctor nodded before turning to the woman. "Sorry," he began, apologizing in advance for the bluntness of his question. "But I don't suppose that you could tell us how we first met?"

"Doctor, isn't that like a spoiler warning."

"I'd like to know what went on in the past to stop me from stopping this back then," he explained to Amy.

"It's quite simple really," the woman explained. "I'm Sarah Ellis Jackson and I was five when we first met. You and your magnificent blue box appeared out of nowhere, right in the middle of our factory. My Grandfather was going to have you arrested but you made him a promise that you would leave. My Grandfather agreed to that, at my insistence and as you left you gave him a warning."

"What was the warning?" asked Amy.

"The Doctor said, 'Seventeen years I give you to change your ways. I will be back and if things aren't different I'll make them so.' Well of course my Grandfather didn't believe a word but I did."

"I see that nothing's changed," the Doctor remarked.

"No," Sarah said sadly. "But everything will change now. My Grandfather has died and left me the entire business."

"So you intend to let these people go yeah?"

"Of course Amy," Sarah assured. "I know that Begii Nott can once again be the best wine making business in all the quadrant without the use of fermenting humans to give it a little extra..."

"Body?" the Doctor asked wryly.

"I was going to use kick," Sarah admitted. "A much better word."

The Doctor smiled. "Yes I suppose it is... come on now Sarah Ellis, let's set these people free."

And free the people were set. Hundreds of people were released from their liquid prison and while a few were quite angry at their incarceration, most were just happy and thankful to be free. Those who were angry were taken into councilling and the rest were allowed to return to their homes and their families.

"Take care Doctor," Sarah thanked as she walked the Doctor and Amy to the TARDIS. "And thank you."

"Thank you Sarah Ellis," the Doctor stated. "You've done well."

"Yes and I know that you will too," Sarah agreed.

"I'll be seeing you soon," the Doctor said with a smile.

Sarah laughed. "Yes. I suppose that you will."

...

"So, why are we travelling back in time seventeen years?" asked Amy once they were in the TARDIS and the Doctor had the machine whirring to life.

"We have to maintain the time line," the Doctor answered.

"Sorta like when I put the message in the window yeah?"

"Yes," the Doctor confirmed. "Just like that. Now, let's do what we've meant to do before going somewhere new and exciting."

_Author's Note: I know that this wasn't the update that you were expecting or hoping for and frankly it wasn't for me either. I liked writing this chapter and while I really wanted to write about a Rory-less "The Impossible Astronaut" I'm starting to think that that is going to be impossible. One; because the first part of the series opener was just too damn confusing I'm going to have to wait until Saturday to figure out just what the Doctor is doing. Two; based on the spoilers out there Rory is much more important than meets the eye. _

_So what does that mean for this fic? Depending on how "Day of the Moon" ends I may or may not wait until the entire series is over, or I might go with my gut and start writing anyways. Either way, I will be updating in the meantime with little Amy & the Doctor adventures though they will probably be a week apart. _

_Hope that you enjoyed this chapter. Please leave a review!_


	15. A Royal Past, Present and Future

DISCLAIMER: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC, I am merely borrowing the characters for my own enjoyment and yours too hopefully. The Royal Family do not belong to me either (obviously) I'm just borrowing Princes William and Harry and Kate Middleton for the purposes of this chapter.

* * *

**Chapter Fifteen: A Royal Past, Present and Future**

"So what do you mean by new?" Amy asked the Doctor as they stood around the console of the TARDIS after keeping the integrity of the timeline. "I thought that you had been everywhere."

"No, no, no," the Doctor assured. "The universe is a big place. I've been a lot of places but I haven't been everywhere. Life would be so boring if I had been everywhere."

"So where are we going?"

"We're going to a wedding."

Amy felt the blood drain for her face, and lingering guilt over leaving Rory on their wedding day surged to the surface.

"Oh I'm sorry," the Doctor immediately apologized. "I didn't think how this would make you feel. We don't have to go there if you don't want too...I can always go later."

"What wedding is it?"

"A Royal wedding,"

"What like some King of Planet X is getting married to the Queen of Mars?"

The Doctor shook his head. "What is with gingers and Mars."

"Doctor?"

"No," he stated, ignoring her question. "We're going to a special wedding, a one in a lifetime wedding for you Brits."

"What like Charles and Diana?" asked Amy excitedly. "I'd love to see them tie the knot."

The Doctor shook his head. "Nah, I've already been there. Wouldn't do me any good to be running into myself. Like I said we're going somewhere new."

"Where new?"

The Doctor handed Amy an invitation and when she opened it her mouth nearly dropped in shock. "William and Kate?" she exclaimed.

The Doctor grinned. "The one and only."

"But how did you get invited?"

"Saved Buckingham Palace a while back," the Doctor explained with a shrug. "And we've had tea on several occasions."

"You've met Queen Elizabeth?" Amy asked, getting more and more excited. Even though she never lost her Scottish pride, she did have an affinity for the Royal family and the thought of going to the wedding of the heir to the throne was nearly too much.

"Yes I have Amy," the Doctor stated. "Now go to the TARDIS closet and pick out a suitable spring dress and facinater hat. We don't want to be late."

Amy nodded, but when she was half way up the stairs before she turned around. "We're in a time machine, how could we possibly be late."

"Just go!" the Doctor said with a grin.

...

The TARDIS whirred and landed inside the Abbey when most of the guests had already been seated. "Alright," the Doctor stated as he peaked out the door which he had opened a crack. "We're going to have to be very stealthy, the TARDIS has brought us here a little late and..."

"Hey!" exclaimed a deep voice. "You came."

The Doctor grinned and turned back to face Amy who was wearing a forest green dress with matching facinator hat. "Ready to meet the bridegroom Amy?"

Amy didn't really have a chance to reply, the Doctor just took her by the hand, looking very handsome in his top hat and tails and pulled her out of the TARDIS where they were greeted by Prince William and Prince Harry.

"We were hoping that you'd come," Prince William stated as he shook the Doctor's hand. "Grandma especially."

"Well I have never been able to say no to a Queen," the Doctor stated cheekily as Amy poked him in the ribs. "But where are my manners? Prince William, Prince Harry may I present to you my newest companion, Amy Pond."

"Pleasure," Prince William stated as he shook her hand.

"So nice to meet you," Prince Harry agreed as he too shook her hand. "And you're a ginger too boot."

Amy grinned. "So are you mate,"

Prince Harry laughed and then looked over his shoulder. "Looks like the family will be arriving soon, you two better take your seats."

"Do we even have seats?" asked Amy.

Prince William nodded. "We saved two, just in case. You'll be on Kate's side, if that's alright with you?"

"Quite alright with me," the Doctor assured. "Lead the way."

...

For Amy, the wedding was a sight to behold. She gazed in amazement at Kate Middleton as she came down the aisle of Westminster Abbey on her father's arm shaking like a leaf. Amy thought that the bride looked absolutely magnificent in her gown and she smiled like a fool through the entire ceremony.

Once the wedding was over, the Doctor and Amy sneaked back to the TARDIS which the Doctor then parked in Buckingham Palace itself just as the luncheon guests were arriving. They talked and laughed with the elite of British society. Amy was even able to catch several moments with the married couple and was privileged enough to enjoy a fair amount of girl talk with Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambrige, herself. and then after popping back to the TARDIS for a quick change, they enjoyed themselves throughout the dinner dance.

And when dawn broke, Prince Harry had his so called "survivor's breakfast" and when the happy couple finally bid Buckingham palace adieu, Amy and the Doctor wearily made their way back to the TARDIS.

...

"Oh I am so exhausted," Amy remarked as she took off the pearl necklace that she had borrowed from the TARDIS closet. "But that was wonderful."

The Doctor grinned. "And it's not over yet."

"Oh no?"

The Doctor shook his head. "No. We're going to go back and watch the balcony kiss. We couldn't see it the first time round."

Amy was excited, but her tiredness was overriding her excitement. "Can I sleep for a couple hours first?"

The Doctor shook his head. "You caught a few zee's towards the end of the dance."

"I know that," Amy confirmed. "But it was twenty minutes."

"Oh come on Pond," the Doctor pleaded as the the TARDIS landed. "Go get changed, we'll walk down the mall, see the couple kiss and then be on our way again."

Amy sighed and nodded. "Alright. Just give me a minute."

...

Amy had to admit, but walking amidst the throngs of people was amazing, especially knowing that her past self was in Buckingham Palace. Dressed in regular street clothes, with a Union Jack sweater especially made by the TARDIS to keep her warm, she and the Doctor (in his usual tweed jacket and bowtie) walked arm in arm behind the policemen who led the way.

They reached the palace gates and were lucky enough to be three rows back and when the royal couple appeared, Amy cheered with the rest until she saw that magical kiss. Eventually, the Royal Family disappeared and the crowd began to thin but as Amy and Doctor began to walk back to the TARDIS a happy couple caught her eye and she stopped dead in her tracks.

"What is it Pond?" the Doctor asked, but Amy said nothing. There was Rory— her Rory laughing with his arms around another girl. Amy was surprised to feel a surge of acute jealousy well up inside her until she realized that the ginger haired girl that she was with was actually herself.

_How is that possible?_ She thought to herself as she watched her future self and Rory disappear into the crowds._ How can I be here, with Rory of all people. That doesn't make any sense. I can't be here. I just can't... I'm already here now and in my past, how can I be here in the future as well?_

"Doctor?" Amy asked as she turned to the Doctor but he just looked at her strangely, like he hadn't seen what she had seen.

"Something wrong Pond?" he asked worriedly.

Amy shook her head. "I'm just tired that's all."

"Oh dear Amy," the Doctor cooed as he put his arm around her. "Let's get you back to the TARDIS you can sleep for as long as you'd like."

Amy gave the Doctor a weary smile. "Thank you."

* * *

_Author's Note: There you have it folks, my tribute to the Royal Wedding. Being in Canada I was up at three-thirty in the morning Eastern Standard Time and I watched with utter fascination and joy as Prince William wed Kate Middleton. I thought that her dress was beautiful, that the ceremony was simple and elegant and perfect and I just had to have the Doctor and Amy enjoy it too. :D_

_Now, I bet you're all wondering what in the world Amy and Rory are doing watching the Royal Wedding, well I'm planning on playing with the timelines and like I said in the last chapter, I'm not sure if I can ignore Rory. As it stands right now, you might not see him, but then again depending on how the series plays out I might connect the dots. _

_Till next chapter dear readers._


	16. Magma Mater

DISCLAIMER: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC and their writers. I am getting no financial reward from this, I am merely borrowing the premise and characters for my own enjoyment and yours too hopefully.

Author's Note: I know it's not the update that you were wanting especially after the long wait, but I just wanted to get this chapter out of the way before I start on series six. I have an idea of where to take this without Rory...mostly. So please, leave a review!

**Chapter Sixteen: Magma-Mater**

"Okay Doctor," Amy began excitedly as the TARDIS whirred to a stop. She was terribly concerned about what she had seen, or rather what she had thought that she had seen at the Royal Wedding but Amy had decided to put it out of her mind until she decided exactly what it could have meant. "What do you have for me this time?"

"Earth, circa twenty-ninety-seven. You lot are just getting out there in space and we're here to see a launch from Hawaii."

"I thought that all that stuff happened in Florida."

The Doctor shook his head as he and Amy went to exit the TARDIS. "Nah. Used to, but by twenty-thirteen NASA goes bankrupt and it's up to the private companies to put humans into space."

"So no more NASA?"

"Nope," the Doctor confirmed as he opened the door. "No more..."

"That's not a shuttle," Amy pointed out, looking over the Doctor's shoulder.

"No," he agreed stepping outside of the TARDIS. "It's not."

"It's a mining thing," Amy added. "Not another mining thing."

"I don't understand it," the Doctor murmured as he squinted.

"What don't you understand?"

"This is supposed to be a launch pad..." the Doctor paused and ran back into the TARDIS leaving Amy standing in the hot sun. "Oh silly me," the Doctor exclaimed.

"Wrong place again?" she asked.

"Yeah," the Doctor agreed. "HSF, the Human Space Flight organization is thousands of miles away."

"So where are we?" asked Amy.

"Southern Texas," the Doctor stated as he came to join her. "Home of the original oil boom, well maybe not original but there was an oil boom here none the less until it all dried up."

"If there's no oil, then why are they drilling."

"I don't know," the Doctor answered. "Let's go find out."

"Oh please," Amy begged. "Let's not."

"Why not?"

"Remember what happened last time?" she pointed out.

The Doctor nodded. "Doubt that there wll be Silurians under us."

"Not the point Doctor," Amy argued. "Let's just go."

The Doctor shook his head. "Nope. I'm the Doctor and this is my TARDIS and I say that we're staying."

Amy's face fell.

"Just to make sure that they're not going to muck things up."

Amy sighed. "Alright then. Lead the way."

The Doctor smiled. "Excellent."

...

The Doctor and Amy found that it was rather easy to get into the drilling platform. Once inside they saw that it was deserted. "Just like last time," Amy muttered. "Can we go now?"

"No," the Doctor argued. "We're staying put."

Suddenly there was a scream and while Amy groaned, the Doctor took off running and she followed. The Doctor came to an abrupt stop when they saw three people backing up from the main drill.

"What is it?" the Doctor asked as he rushed forward, scanning the area with his sonic screwdriver. "What's wrong."

"We hit the mantle," one of the scientists, a woman with brown curly hair remarked, not even bothering to ask the Doctor who he and Amy were let alone what they were doing in a secure drilling facility. "We actually hit it, but something's wrong."

"The drill is melting?"

"If only it was as simple as that," a second scientist, a tall, grey-haired and balding man stated.

"Things are always really simple." the Doctor answered. "So long as you tell me what is going on here."

"It's coming," the third scientists, clearly the youngest of the lot remarked as she backed up behind the Doctor. "The mother is coming."

"Mother?" the Doctor asked curiously. "What do you mean?"

"Don't listen to Ginny," the balding man ordered.

"Carl you have no right to say that," the first scientist said.

"Emily, she's dead wrong. Crazy and wrong."

"I am not crazy," Ginny defended. "I know what I saw."

"And what did you see?" asked Amy quietly. Ginny looked at Amy with cruel suspicion in her eyes but Amy didn't let the glaring gaze get to her. "It's alright," she assured. "If you tell me, then me and the Doctor— that's him with the funny bow-tie,"

"Bow-tie's are cool," the Doctor defended.

"Then me and the Doctor can stop whatever it is that's happening her," Amy continued, not paying attention to the Doctor at all. "So please, just tell us what's going on."

Ginny looked to her fellow scientists looking for approval and when she did not see any in their eyes, she turned back to Amy. "We did not know but this world is alive," she stated quietly to Amy and the Doctor. "We've been raping her resources for so long and she's finally had enough."

"Ginny stop your nonsense," Carl ordered.

"She did not want us to drill into her mantle," Ginny continued. "Just as we do not like it when we're poked with needles to have our blood drawn. Only we resist on a much smaller level. Here and now, Mother Earth is waking up and climbing out of her shell."

"The stupid monster will destroy us all," Carl exploded causing the Doctor to come face to face with him.

"You stupid human," he remarked coldly, barely refraining from using the more derogatory term that his ninth incarnation was fond of using. "You have no idea. Planets are sentient beings. Most of the time they don't mind you poking around because they know that it's for the betterment of your race, but this..." he paused to gesture around the entire structure. "This is nothing but greed and destruction. To drill to the mantle? Did you honestly believe that that was a good idea? Oh I know that you humans have a tendency of exploration and what could be more exciting then exploring the depths of your mother's surface but still..."

"Doctor," Amy interjected, the fear in her voice enough to stop the Doctor from rambling anymore. "Doctor she's here."

The Doctor turned and saw that Emily was pulling Amy and Ginny away from the encroaching magma which followed a humanoid like figure, quite obviously female. "Well hello there," the Doctor greeted as he past the retreating humans. "Never thought that I'd actually get to meet you."

"You should not be here," the magma-person stated quietly, her voice sounding as though it was coming from the very heart of the Earth itself. "Time Lords have no place here on my surface."

"I beg your pardon Miss Earth,"

"Mother Earth."

The Doctor nodded in reverence. "I beg your pardon Mother Earth, but I've put a lot of work into these humans and I've saved them and you on more than on occasion."

"Of this I am aware."

The Doctor smiled. "Then I'm sure you know what silly children they are and how they meant no harm."

"Infants mean no harm," Mother Earth stated. "When they were young and new, when they were nomadic and lived in harmony they meant no harm. But then they learned how to till my land, they learned how to domesticate my creatures. They learned how to dig for my minerals and forge them into monstrosities. They left the path eons ago. I must wipe them all out to start again."

"No," the Doctor stated as he put his hands up in defence. "No you can't do that."

"This is my world," Mother Earth argued. "I can do as you will."

"But if you wipe humanity off the face of the planet now then all of history will change. Empires that stretch across the stars, these people, your people do such amazing things. They save planets like you, the come to worship you again. You just have to be patient."

Mother Earth shook her magma head. "I have waited for almost five billion years, I believe that I have waited enough."

"But what about your Sol?" the Doctor asked. "He won't be able to stay back forever. I have seen your destruction and your creation mind you, for myself and let me tell you that if you were to start again, you would not be able to witness the fruits of your labour. What you've created here this time around is a gift, I'm begging you to let them be."

Mother Earth walked right up to the Doctor and stared at him, as though she was trying to figure out whether or not what he was saying was really true. The Doctor watched the vast enormity of the emotions that were fluttering across her magma-coloured eyes. He could see the ancient deity thinking back on the eons that she had been sentient. And then just when he thought that Mother Earth would leave her children be, she snapped.

"Doctor!" Amy cried out in fear as she rushed forward, grabbing the Doctor by the hem of his tweed jacket and pulling him backward.

"Run!" he responded as he took Amy's hand. "Run!"

Together they, along with the other three scientists ran until they came to to mess hall, where the scientists went about barricading themselves in.

"That's not going to do you any good," the Doctor warned.

"Well I don't see you coming up with a plan," Carl snapped.

"I always have a plan," the Doctor assured.

"Then what is it?" Amy asked, a slight edge to her voice.

The Doctor just smiled at her. "You'll see."

"Doctor,"

"Tell me Ginny," the Doctor continued, completely ignoring Amy much to her dismay. "What do you know of Mother Earth?"

"Sorry?" Ginny asked, pausing in her work to barricade the door.

"Well your a smart girl, not so science-y though. Must know something, am I right?"

Ginny shrugged. "Not really."

"Ah now," the Doctor stated with a sigh. "You can tell me, I'm the Doctor."

Ginny glanced at her fellow scientists wistfully before turning to the Doctor. "I'm not like them," she admitted. "They've been scientists since they were born, if you believe what they say... but I sort of fell into the whole world."

"Hoe?" asked the Doctor.

"I was reading a fairy story," Ginny continued. "It was about Mother Earth, the great goddess and mother of all things who was slumbering alone in the middle of a forest where she was found by a little girl who so wanted spring to appear."

"Sounds enchanting,"

"That's what I thought," Ginny agreed. "But then my brothers, all much older than me and very professional, a businessman, a lawyer and a doctor came over to me and began teasing me for my so called silly ideas," Ginny paused and blinked the tears from her eyes. "They called me names, took my book and destroyed it right before my very eyes. From that moment on I decided that it would be much better for me to look at things logically, as opposed to the youthful naive outlook that I had had up until that moment."

The Doctor placed a sympathetic hand on Ginny's shoulder. "I am sorry," he apologized.

Ginny looked at him with a peculiar look in her eye. "For what?"

"You're the only one whose going to be able to stop her."

"Doctor," Amy yelled. "She's coming through."

"What can I do?" Ginny asked.

"Doctor," Amy yelled again coming to his side. "What do we do."

"Nothing," he answered, still staring at Ginny.

"What?" Amy exclaimed.

"You heard me," the Doctor stated. "Now get back, all of you."

"But what about me?" Ginny asked as her fellow scientists joined the Doctor and Amy in a corner as far away from the encroaching magma as possible. "What am I supposed to do."

"You know what you're supposed to do," the Doctor assured.

Ginny shook her head, panicking. "I don't."

"You're that little girl," he pointed out. "You can do it."

Ginny was so surprised that at first she didn't know what to do. But then the crashing sound that came behind her made her realize that her time was up. Ginny turned to face the humanoid form of her Mother Earth and she took a deep breath. "I'm sorry," she apologized, as though that one word would fix everything and for a moment it seemed to because Mother Earth stopped in her tracks.

"I'm sorry," Ginny repeated. "I'm sorry for everything that humanity has done, what we were doing and what we'll probably still do in the future but if you..." she paused and glanced at the Doctor who gave her an encouraging smile. "...if you give us another chance, I promise that I will do everything in my power to let the world know that you're alive and that we have to treat you with respect."

Mother Earth walked right up to Ginny, and she was surprised at the heat that was emanating from the being before her. And then, Ginny watched with surprise as the being before her nodded, before vanishing and leaving nothing but a puddle of magma behind.

"Is that it?" Amy asked, turning to the Doctor. "I mean really?"

The Doctor nodded. "It is, and now I think we best get out of here..." he paused and looked at all the damage that the magma had done. "Come along scientists, let's get you safe."

It wasn't all that hard for the Doctor to bring the TARDIS to them. Just a flick of his sonic screwdriver and his mad blue box appeared beside them. Once Amy and the Scientists were all in he piloted the TARDIS away from the mining operation and let the three stunned scientists off on a hill that overlooked their compound with a warning.

"Remember what happened here," he stated. "Help Ginny fulfil l her promise. Because if you don't, you'll wish that you were destroyed along with your research."

With that said the Doctor went back into the TARDIS followed closely by Amy and without saying a word to her, he put the TARDIS into start and had it fly off through time and space.

Author's Note 2: Hello there. Thanks for reading this chapter. Please leave a review if you can 'cause I love getting feedback and up next is my take on "The Impossible Astronaut" and the rest of series six. :D So exciting!


	17. A Matter of Trust

DISCLAIMER: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC and their writers. I am getting no financial reward from this, I am merely borrowing the premise and characters for my own enjoyment and yours too hopefully.

Author's Note: *sad face* No reviews for the last chapter. Well, I hope that you guys like this one. Unlike previous chapters that I've converted, there is no transcript for this one so I'm relying on memory alone. Also, since I'm totally messing with cannon, things have changed as as a result, what they say has changed too. Hope you don't mind though if you do, or even if you don't, please review. I'd love to hear what you think!

**Chapter Seventeen: A Matter of Trust**

Rory Williams didn't quite know what to make of the mysterious blue letter. It had no return address and when he opened it, it contained nothing but a date, a time and GPS co-ordinates. His first instinct was to put the letter aside and not look at it ever again. But the more he thought about it the more he realized that it might be from the Doctor and where the Doctor was, Amy was sure to follow.

Despite the fact that it had been almost a year since Amy had run off with the Doctor and left the on their wedding day, Rory still loved her and had missed her more than he could have imagined each day. _Oh I don't know what I should do..._ he bemoaned silently to himself as he slumped down into a chair in his modest flat in Ledworth. _Do I go? Do I not go?_

After hours of bantering in his head, Rory decided that it would be a good idea to go The Doctor clearly needed him for something, and if it gave him the chance to see Amy as well, well then that would just be an even better reason to go.

* * *

When Rory arrived in the middle of nowhere, Utah he questioned the wiseness of his decision. There was nothing around for miles, and while the scenery was beautiful, Rory seriously questioned his sanity. _There's no proof that the letter was sent by the Doctor_, he told himself as he looked around. _Just because something's TARDIS blue doesn't mean that it's from the Doctor. _

"The Centurian?" asked a voice to his left.

Rory turned to see none other than River Song standing there.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"What are you doing here?" Rory asked back.

"I was summoned," she answered as she held out a letter.

"Hey," Rory exclaimed as he pulled out his. "So was I."

"My letter is number three," River pointed out.

"And mine is number four," Rory added.

"So who's one and two?" asked River looking around.

Rory watched her face carefully and saw her smile.

"Well howdy," came a familiar voice.

Rory turned around and saw the Doctor sitting on top of a classic red car wearing a stetson. "Doctor!" he exclaimed with a smile of his own. He looked around for Amy, but didn't see her. "Doctor," he asked again. "Where's Amy?"

"Hello Sweetie," River stated with a smile as she walked over to the Doctor.

"River," the Doctor acknowledged with a tip of his hat.

"Doctor," Rory restated. "Amy?"

"And Rory the Nurse!" the Doctor exclaimed as he jumped off the hood of his car. "This is brilliant. Rory and River together."

River rolled her eyes. "You know full well that we're not 'together' Doctor,"

"Well you're sort of together," the Doctor amended. "I mean your standing here right now. Aren't you?"

"Doctor," Rory asked again, a panicked feeling rising up within him. "Where is Amy."

"What?" the Doctor asked as he turned to face Rory. "Oh right. Pond. Well she's not with me at the moment."

"Did you lose her?" Rory asked angrily.

"No of course not."

"Is she dead?"

The Doctor shook his head. "Said I didn't lose her."

"Then where is she?"

"She's not here," the Doctor snapped. "But she should be...soon."

After a couple of moments the Doctor closed his eyes.

"Course," he muttered under his breath.

"Course what?" asked Rory.

"Nothing," he replied, opening his eyes. "Come with me. We're going on a picnic..."

* * *

Amy Pond walked around the console of the TARDIS when she suddenly saw something out of an ordinary. Two blue envelopes were sitting there. One was addressed to the Doctor and had a number one on it. The other was addressed to her and had a number two on it. "Hey Doctor?" she asked as she picked the envelopes up. "What are these?"

"What are what?" he asked from beneath her.

Amy went below the console and showed the Doctor the letters.

"Strange," he remarked. "Where'd you find them?"

"On the console," she answered.

"Just sitting there?"

Amy nodded. "What are they?"

"Well clearly someone wants to talk to us."

"Talk to us?" she asked. "Wouldn't they just phone us?"

The Doctor shook his head. "Sometimes people mail letters to me and anything with the TARDIS on it is automatically transferred here."

"How does that work?" Amy asked.

"Same way it works when people call me," the Doctor answered. "The TARDIS reroutes the mail."

"So are you going to open it?" she asked.

"Nope," the Doctor replied getting back to his work.

"Well can I open mine?"

"If you want."

Amy opened up her letter and was surprised to see a date, time and co-ordinates as the only thing inside. "Strange," she remarked. "Can I open yours?"

"If you want," the Doctor answered.

Amy put her letter and envelope aside and opened the Doctor's. His too had a date, time and co-ordinates on it, but when Amy compared the two she was surprised that the co-ordinates and time were different. Her's said twelve noon, the Doctor's said three in the afternoon.

"They're not the same," she remarked aloud.

"Sorry?" the Doctor asked.

"I said that they're not the same. These letters."

The Doctor looked up at Amy. "Let me see."

She handed him the two letters and he looked at them carefully. After scanning them with his sonic screwdriver the Doctor placed both of them within the inner pocket of his tweed jacket and stood up.

"Well come along Pond," he stated.

"What for?" she asked as she followed him up to the console.

"We're going to go on a little trip."

"Oh yeah?" she asked excitedly. "Where to?"

"Utah," the Doctor answered with a smile. "Twenty-eleven."

* * *

When Amy thought that she was going to see Utah, she didn't think that she was going to see the inside of a little diner. It was a nice diner to be sure and while she had tried to talk the Doctor in to parking the TARDIS outside, he insisted parking it in the mens washroom.

They had ordered themselves a drink and had just sat down when the Doctor suddenly stood up again. "Oh," he began. "I forgot my bendy straw...be right back Pond."

"Go ahead," Amy stated. "Take your time."

She watched with a smile as the Doctor disappeared into the washroom. _Gosh I love that guy,_ she thought to herself, though the minute the thought at crossed her mind she felt her stomach drop. _Did I just think what I thought I thunk? _She asked herself as she brought her hands to her mouth in surprise. _I thought that I love the Doctor but I don't... do I?_

Amy's internal rambling continued when suddenly she heard familiar voices.

"This is insane,"

"Rory, calm down."

"But the Doctor is dead."

"I know."

"And if he's dead where's Amy?"

"Rory we just—"

"Rory?" Amy asked as she stood up, turning towards the door and noticing Rory and River standing there. "River?"

"Oh Amy!" Rory exclaimed as he rushed at her and hugged her. "I'm so sorry."

"Sorry?" she asked, really confused. "Why? What have you done?"

"It's not what we've done," River explained as Rory stood back. "It's what the Doctor's done."

"The Doctor?" Amy asked, still confused.

"Amy," Rory began with a gulp. "The Doctor is dead."

"No he isn't," Amy defended. "He was right here."

"Amy," River began slowly. "I saw him die."

Tears sprang to Amy's eyes. "But he... he can't be and..."

"Oh. My. God." River murmured.

Amy turned around and saw her Doctor standing there.

"See," she pointed out. "He's right here."

"But how is this possible?" Rory asked.

"Doctor," River began, barely concealed rage lacing her voice.

"Hello River," the Doctor stated with a smile.

"How old are you Doctor?" River asked.

"Nine-hundred and eight."

"But you said that you were eleven hundred." Rory corrected.

"Rory hush," River ordered as she walked over to the Doctor. "So where does that leave us huh? Jim the Fish? Easter Island?"

"Sorry," he apologized, looking quite confused. "Don't know about them."

River let out a little shriek and slapped the Doctor.

"I take it that that is for something I haven't done yet?"

River said nothing, but she nodded.

"Oh goody,"

"Now wait a minute," Amy interjected. "What are you both doing here."

Rory and River looked at each other and River held out a very similar looking envelope. "We were recruited."

"Recruited?" asked the Doctor. "Recruited by who?"

"Hey," Amy exclaimed. "That looks the same as the one we got."

She took the envelope and letter from River and was surprised to see the same date, time and co-ordinates as hers had had.

"You have the same info as mine does. Only mine says two and the Doctor's says one on the front."

"Yours?" asked Rory. "You mean you were supposed to be there too?"

"There where?" asked Amy.

"Never mind that," the Doctor interjected. "What are you doing here? And who recruited you?"

"Someone who trusts you," River answered cryptically. "All we know that it has to do with Space, nineteen-sixty-nine and a man named Canton Everett Delaware the third..." she paused and took her envelope back from Amy. "Now if you don't mind sweetie. I'd really like to finish what we've started."

* * *

Back inside the TARDIS Rory and River dragged Amy underneath the console so that they could talk to her privately. "I don't understand," she muttered. "What is going on here?"

"We saw the Doctor die," River explained. "His future self."

The colour drained from Amy's face as she realized that River wasn't lying to her. "We should tell him."

"Yes," Rory agreed. "We should."

"We can't." River ordered.

"Why not?"

"Amy, the Doctor is tampering with his own timeline," she explained. "He's changing the course of his own personal history. Whatever the future Doctor was running from, it has to be something truly terrible."

"So getting himself killed was all part of a plan?" Rory asked. "His encounter with the spaceman was intentional?"

River shrugged her shoulders. "I have no idea. All I know is that we have to keep this from him, and try to figure out just what is going on."

"But hang on a second," Amy interjected. "Are you sure that the Doctor is dead? I mean, he's pretended to be dead before so that he could work unnoticed. Are you sure that that's not what he did?"

River shook her head sadly. "He was shot and began to regenerate and then he was shot again with some sort of energy weapon."

"I don't understand."

"A Timelord can regenerate and cheat death, but if they are injured in the middle of the regeneration process, then they die. Full stop."

Tears sprung to Amy's eye. "But the Doctor can't die."

"I know," River agreed. "And maybe by figuring out what's in nineteen-sixty-nine we can stop the events that lead to his death."

"But we don't even know what he was running from," Rory pointed out.

"No," River confirmed. "But that doesn't mean that we can't try."

"Hey down there!" the Doctor called out. "I've found Canton."

River looked to Rory and Amy. "Do not breathe a word, understand?"

"Yes." Rory answered.

"Yes." Amy agreed as well.

"Good," she stated. "That's great sweetie," she called out as she led Amy and Rory back up to the main console room. "Where can we find him."

The Doctor said nothing. He merely sat down.

"Doctor?" River asked. "Aren't we going to go?"

"What you think that I'm just going to accept a mysterious summons?"

"You love mystery," River pointed out.

"Yes but not this kind of mystery," the Doctor stated coldly as he stood up. "And what about you River?" he asked. "Who are you... really?"

"I can't tell you," she said sadly.

"Spoilers and all that," the Doctor mimicked. "I know. But you said that I'd be finding out who you are very soon now and I can't help but wonder if this is where you tell me who you are."

"No," River assured. "It's not."

"Well then tell me who you killed then," the Doctor asked.

River shook her head. "You have to trust me."

"Oh come on now," the Doctor scoffed. "How can I trust you?"

"Trust me," Amy interjected, causing the Doctor's attention to move from River to her. "Trust us..." she continued, knowing that she had to do everything and anything that she could to get the Doctor to do what the future dead Doctor wanted them to do. "You're going to have to do this and you can't ask why."

"Swear," the Doctor stated. "On something important."

Amy searched his face and came up with an answer. "Fish fingers."

"Sorry?" Rory asked.

"Fish fingers and custard," Amy repeated. She knew that what she was swearing on was the fact that she trusted the Doctor once when she was a little girl and it was his turn to trust her even though she wasn't telling him what was going on.

"Amelia Pond..." the Doctor whispered. "My life in your hands?"

Amy nodded.

"Alright then," the Doctor stated, going from being all moody to quite giddy. "Let's get going?"

"But where?" asked Rory.

"Somewhere different, somewhere I've never been before..." the Doctor grinned and began to work the controls. "Going to have to put her on silent," he remarked as River followed him silently and seemed to correct the controls. "And invisible. I love turning the old girl invisible and..." he paused and looked to River. "You messing with my TARDIS?"

"Oh no," she assured, though Amy knew that she was lying.

"Good," he stated. "We've landed."

"So," Rory began. "What's outside those doors?"

"Only one of the most iconic buildings in all of Earth's history... the White House."

Amy rushed to the Doctor's side but he held out his hand.

"We've just landed in the middle of the Oval Office," he pointed out. "We're going to have to go slow. You guys stay here and keep an eye out for me okay?"

"Whatever you say sweetie," River promised as the Doctor exited the door. "He has no idea what he's walking into."

"Sorry?" Amy asked. "Do you know what's going to happen?"

River looked at Amy, clearly startled. "What?"

"She asked if you know what's going to happen."

River shook her head. "Course not."

"But you meet the Doctor out of order yeah?" she asked.

"You know I do."

"So then what's to say that you don't know how this all plays out already?" Amy asked.

"It doesn't work that way," River pointed out.

"When we were in the Byzantium, you knew we'd be heading towards the Pandorica."

"Yes but during the adventure with the Pandorica I had no idea what was going to happen, nor did I have any idea as to what was going to happen with the Byzantium."

Amy shook her head. "The Doctor doesn't trust you."

"The Doctor will come to trust me," River assured.

"But who are you?" Rory asked coming to stand by Amy.

"Doesn't matter now," River assured as she turned to the console where she could see the Doctor being surrounded by FBI agents. "The Doctor needs us."

"River!" he called out, his voice reverberating through the speakers of the TARDIS. "Have you got her working yet?"

"Oh he does infuriate me," River muttered.

"You exasperate me more!" the Doctor called out.

"But how?" Amy asked as the TARDIS whirred to life.

"He's the Doctor," River explained as the TARDIS appeared fully. "Now, let's go see if we can't figure out just what is going on."

River exited the TARDIS followed by Amy and Rory. They were instantly confronted by armed men.

"Now, now. No need for the guns." the Doctor began. "You have a problem, a child keeps calling you, you said so yourself. If you give me five minutes I bet that I'll be able to figure out where she is."

"Sir," one of the FBI agents began. "I recommend subduing—"

"Sir," began another voice. "This man got past your security with his friends and his little blue box. I'd say that he's worth listening too."

"Canton are you sure?"

Canton, the second man to speak nodded. "Yes Mr. President."

"Very well," the president replied. "Son, you've got five minutes."

"Excellent," the Doctor stated as the guns were dropped and he went to sit down in the president's chair. "Now I'll need every map that you can get your hands on. Cities, towns, states, the works. I'll also need twelve jammy-dogers and a fez..."

"Sir," the first FBI agent to speak interjected.

"Do as the man asks," the president ordered. "I want answers."

"And you shall have them Mr. President sir," the Doctor promised. "You have my word."


	18. A Spaceman Came A Walking

DISCLAIMER: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC and their writers. I am getting no financial reward from this, I am merely borrowing the premise and characters for my own enjoyment and yours too hopefully.

Author's Note: *sad face* No reviews. Again. I know that you guys are reading this, I get story alerts and the like for it but there hasn't been any reviews for the last two chapters and it makes me super sad. I know that this story is no where near close to the brilliance of the six series of new who, I just saw "A Good Man Goes To War" and let me just say that what they've done is brilliant, but I'm still staying true to my AU version of things and I would love to hear your feedback so please, after reading this chapter, leave a review! It would mean the world to me.

* * *

**Chapter Eighteen: A Spaceman Came A-Walking **

"So?" Canton asked the Doctor as he poured over the maps.

"So what?" the Doctor asked back.

"So who are your friends?"

"Legs, the Nose and Mrs. Robinson."

"Oh I do hate you," River muttered as she watched the Doctor.

He looked up and grinned at her. "No you don't."

River sighed. "You're right, I don't."

"So you said that you worked for what exactly?"

"Here are my credentials," the Doctor stated as he pulled his psychic paper out from his pocket and handed it to Canton who then showed it to the FBI agents.

"Scotland Yard?" the lead FBI agents asked.

"Apparently," Canton stated as he looked back at the TARDIS. "Though I'd like to know how Scotland Yard managed to ship a police box over the Atlantic and smuggle it into the Oval Office."

"Yes..." the Doctor agreed as he kept his nose to the maps. "I'm sure that you would."

"Hey," asked one of the agents as Amy made a move to go to the door. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Washroom," Amy answered, knowing that while she could have used the one on the TARDIS she really had to go to one inside the West Wing.

"I'm sorry," the lead FBI agent apologized. "But for the duration of your stay,"

"Oh let her go to the washroom," Canton ordered.

The FBI agent who had stopped Amy nodded and led her to the nearest female washroom. Amy smiled at him and told him that she could handle this part alone. Once inside she expected just to be able to splash some water on her face. She didn't expect to come face to face with a scary looking alien.

"You..." she stated as she realized that she had seen the alien before, moments before she asked to go to the washroom. "I saw you before. But I couldn't remember you... why couldn't I remember you?"

The alien said nothing as a woman exited a stall.

"Quick," Amy ordered holding out her hand. "Get over here."

"What?" the woman asked as she turned to Amy. "Why?"

"Just come over here."

"What are you looking at dear?" the woman asked as she turned around. She saw the alien and shrieked. "Oh good lord! Carl?" she asked, clearly thinking that it was a trick. "Is that you Carl?"

"Lady please," Amy insisted. "Come over here."

"Come over where?" the woman asked as she turned her head back to Amy. "Why?"

"Because of the monster."

The woman gave her a blank look. "What monster?"

"Behind you," Amy said as she pointed.

The woman looked behind her and screamed again. "Oh good lord! Carl?" she asked, clearly thinking that it was a trick. "Is that you Carl? Wait, didn't I already say that?"

The alien pointed a bony finger at her and electricity filled the air. The woman opened her mouth to scream but no sound came out and before Amy could do anything the woman was vaporized.

"You didn't have to do that!" she exclaimed, horrified. "There was no reason for you to kill her. Why did you kill her? The woman was no threat to you...and neither am I."

"Joy," the alien replied.

"What?" Amy asked, quite confused.

"Her name was Joy," the alien answered. "And your name is Amy."

Amy took a step back and brushed up against the wall. "How—?"

"You travel with the Doct-or," the alien continued.

"Yeah?" asked Amy as she raised her phone slyly, realizing that one could only remember the alien so long as they were looking at it. "What about it?"

"You must tell the Doct-or what he must know, and what he must never know."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Amy asked as she took a picture of the alien, still keeping her eyes on him.

"It means that you will tell him what he must know, and what he must never know..."

"Miss?" came the voice of the FBI agent from outside and Amy looked to her right before she could stop herself. "You alright in there?"

She then looked back to where the alien had been standing but saw nothing, and remembered nothing. Shrugging to herself she exited and followed the FBI guy back to the Oval Office. _What he must know and what he must never know..._ she thought to herself as they re-entered the room. _What's that supposed to mean? And where did I hear that?_

"Hey," Rory asked concerned as he came over to Amy. "You alright?"

Amy nodded, though inside she felt as though her stomach was in knots. "Course," she assured.

"Doctor," Canton began. "Your five minutes are up."

"And you didn't get me my jammy-dogers or my fez," he pointed out. "So I've got another five minutes."

Canton sighed and shrugged his shoulders, leaving the Doctor to his work. Four minutes and fifty-seven seconds, the Doctor smiled. "Ah-ha!" he exclaimed. "Found it."

"Found what?" the President asked.

"Where we need to go..." the Doctor exclaimed as he stood up. "Mr. President sir, when the little girl calls again tell her that help is on the way." He paused and turned to his friends. "Come on gang, we have a little girl to save."

River, Rory and Amy made their way into the TARDIS and from inside they could hear the Doctor telling Canton to close the door as he followed them.

Once inside, the Doctor went straight to the console while Canton looked around. "Why it's... it's bigger on the inside."

"Yes," Amy stated with a smile. "Yes it is."

"But how is this even possible?" Canton asked.

"It's better that you don't ask," Rory suggested.

"How did Scotland Yard make this?"

River shook her head. "Didn't you realize that that was a lie?"

"Well of course," Canton pointed out as he joined River.

"Then why ask the question?" Amy asked.

"Don't want you to think that I'm smarter than I am."

The Doctor smiled. "Canton, I think I'm going to like you."

"If you can figure out who the little girl is then I think I'll like you too," Canton agreed as he looked around. "So this, machine of yours...what does it do."

The Doctor looked up and pointed to the doors. "Take a look."

Canton looked at the Doctor funnily and did as he was told. He walked to the doors of the TARDIS and stepped out. "We moved," came his reply as he was joined by Amy, River, Rory and the Doctor. "How did we move?"

"It just does that." Amy answered as she walked past him.

"But how does it do that?"

"It's very complicated," River assured.

"I bet," Canton agreed. "But how?"

The Doctor just smiled like a kid as he walked past Canton while Rory stopped and stood beside him.

"How does it work?" Canton asked him.

Rory shrugged. "Sometimes it's better not to ask."

Canton nodded "Yeah, I suppose that it is."

"So what are we doing here?" Amy asked the Doctor.

"Well the little girl was asked who she was and where she was."

"So?" asked River.

"So she did what any little lost girl would do," the Doctor replied. "She looked out the window."

Amy and River followed the Doctor's gaze and saw the three names that the little girl had given as street signs; Jefferson, Hamilton, Adams.

"So she's here?" Amy asked. "Somewhere?"

"Yes she is," the Doctor confirmed. "And it's up to us to find her."

"But where are we?" River asked.

"About five miles from Cape Kennedy Space Centre," the Doctor replied. "It's nineteen-sixty-nine, the year of the moon. So interesting, don't you think?"

Amy shrugged. "I suppose."

"And it's probably the only place in the world where those three street names intersect and Doctor Song, you've got that face on again."

River looked at him sharply. "What face?"

"The 'he's hot when he's clever' face."

River scowled. "This is my normal face."

"Course it is."

"Oh shut up."

The Doctor shook his head. "Not a chance."

"Why can't you tell me how it moves through space?" Canton asked Rory as they joined the others.

"You've not gotten to time travel yet?" the Doctor asked.

"Time travel?" Canton asked, his eyes wide.

"Be brave Canton..." the Doctor told him. "Now come on."

"So it's a box that's bigger on the inside and travels through time and space?" Canton asked.

Rory nodded. "Yeah basically."

"Hurry up you two," the Doctor called out and Canton and Rory caught up to them.

"So this is a warehouse," River was explaining.

"And probably a trap."

"Doctor how can this be a trap?"

"Don't know yet Pond," he replied. "Let's just see if anyone kills us and then work backwards."

"Now why would a girl be here?" Rory asked.

"Again I don't know," the Doctor answered. "Let's go find her."

They searched round the warehouse and came to find some very obviously alien technology and some contemporary technology from the NASA space programme.

"This is incredible," Canton murmured.

"I think he's okay now," Rory stated.

"Ah," the Doctor sighed. "Back with us Canton?"

Canton nodded. "Like your wheels."

The Doctor smiled. "That's my boy. Now let's find the girl."

The Doctor, Canton and Rory left to explore the outer edges of the room leaving Amy and River alone.

"Are you absolutely sure that the Doctor dies?" she asked.

River nodded. "I saw it with my own eyes."

"And we can't tell him?"

River shook her head. "No we can't."

"But time can be rewritten can't it?"

"Not all the time," River stated sadly.

Amy crossed her arms. "Says who?"

"The Doctor."

Amy sighed. "Course."

River turned away from Amy and followed one of the cables to a manhole cover. She pushed it aside, shined her flashlight down and looked up. "Doctor look at this."

The Doctor joined her. "So where does that go?"

River scanned the hole. "There's a network of tunnels."

"Any life signs?"

"None that's showing up."

The Doctor sighed. "Those are the worst kinds," he pointed out as River manoeuvred herself to get into the manhole. "Be careful."

"Careful?" she asked with a smirk. "Tried that once, ever so dull."

"Shout it you find trouble."

"Don't worry," River assured. "I'm quite a screamer... and there's a spoiler for you." They all waited around for River to return. Canton asked if he was unconscious in the bar still but Amy told him that he wasn't. They had just begun to explore the area around the manhole when River returned. "All clear," she told them. "Nothing down there that I could see. I'd like to take another look around though."

"That's stupidly dangerous," the Doctor called out over his shoulder.

"Don't I know it," River exclaimed with a smile. She turned to look at Amy and whispered; "Take care of him."

"Rory, watch River for me." The Doctor asked.

"Do I have to?"

"Yes," the Doctor assured. "You do."

"Will you watch Amy?" he asked quietly. "Keep her safe?"

The Doctor turned to Rory and nodded. "I always do."

Rory sighed and nodded. "Hang on River. I'm coming too."

...

Down the manhole, in the tunnels that were impossibly old, Rory asked River a question that had been bugging him since the Doctor had died. "What did you mean?" he asked, referring to what she had said as the future Doctor's body had burned. "When you said that there was a worse day coming for you?"

River sighed and paused in her break-in of the door. "When I first met the Doctor, he knew all about me and I knew nothing about him or myself really. Think about that? A girl without her memory and then suddenly this man suddenly this man is there... he's clever and mad and wonderful. He knows all about me and says that we're... well, imagine what it does to a girl."

"I already know," Rory said sadly. "I lost Amy that way."

"The trouble is," River continued. "It's all messed up. My past is his future more or less. We're travelling in opposite directions now. Every time we meet for the most party I know him more and he knows me less. I live for the days that I can see him but I know that there's a fifty-fifty chance that he'll know me less and I know that the day is coming when I'll look into that man's eyes...my Doctor's eyes... and he won't know who I am..."

"And what will happen then?" Rory asked.

River shrugged as the lock clicked open. "Don't know, but it'll probably kill me inside..." she paused and opened the door. "Let's see what we've got here."

...

Back up in the warehouse; Amy, the Doctor and Canton were looking around. They were talking aloud, trying to figure out just what was going on, when all of the sudden they heard the little girl calling for help. Before either Amy or the Doctor could do anything, Canton had taken off.

"Well come on then," the Doctor stated as he took Amy's hand. "Let's go after him."

They chased Canton and found him laying on the ground with his gun just out of reach of his hand. The Doctor leaned down to check him and Amy realized that if she didn't tell the Doctor how she felt about him then there was a good chance that she never would.

"Doctor," she stated as she looked down at him. "I have to tell you something."

"Not now," the Doctor chastised.

"Yes now," Amy insisted as she leaned down. "Doctor..." she began taking a deep breath and trying to calm her nerves. "Doctor I think that I... that I love you."

The Doctor's eyes widened and Amy nodded ever so slightly, showing the Doctor that she wasn't lying. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something but a breathing sound interrupted him. Amy turned around and saw the spaceman walking towards them.

_That must be the spaceman that kills the Doctor, _she thought to himself as she turned around again and started reaching for Canton's gun. _I have to save the Doctor. _

"What are you doing?" he asked as she stood up.

"Saving your life," she answered as she pointed the gun.

The Doctor turned to the spaceman and saw who was inside when the sun shield was raised. Amy however turned around and as the Doctor cried out "No" she fired the gun and then realized what she had done.


	19. Chasing the Enemy

DISCLAIMER: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC and their writers. I am getting no financial reward from this, I am merely borrowing the premise and characters for my own enjoyment and yours too hopefully.

Author's Note: I have to give a HUGE shout out and thank you to Alyssa, RainbowBrains and okieredrose for reviewing the last chapter and to okieredrose, don't you worry. Starting the chapter after next (which will deal with the curse of the black spot) cannon will be totally decimated. :D Hope you'll all review, and that any of you who are reading this will review this chapter too 'cause I'd love to read what you think!

Happy reading!

* * *

**Chapter Nineteen: Chasing the Enemy **

Amy stood in stunned silence as she realized what she had done.

"I'm sorry," she apologized as she dropped the gun.

The little girl just stared at her in shock.

"Amy, run!" the Doctor ordered as he hoisted Canton to his feet.

"I'm so sorry," Amy apologized again.

"Amy," the Doctor yelled as he grabbed her hand, "Now."

Amy turned to yell at the Doctor when she saw them. They were closing in all around them. The scary aliens, the ones that she had encountered before and forgotten.

"Oh no," she whispered as she backed up into the Doctor.

"Pond?" he asked worriedly.

"Not again," she whispered as she reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone clicking the various buttons to bring up the image of the alien without taking her eyes of them. "I'm not going to forget you this time..."

The Doctor just looked at Amy in utter confusion, he wanted to ask her what in the world was going on but when Rory and River came running into the room, shooting at the aliens who were chasing them he realized that they were going to have to re-group.

"Alright!" he yelled. "The TARDIS everyone."

And so they ran.

...

When they were back in the TARDIS and the doors were locked and the Doctor was piloting her away, they all looked at each other, asking the same question... what were they running from. Amy looked down at her phone. She dropped the phone screaming and brought all eyes to her.

"Amy?" the Doctor asked. "What's wrong?"

Amy shook her head, the memory already gone. "Don't know."

"You screamed," Rory pointed out.

"Did not," she countered.

"But you did." Canton confirmed.

"The question," the Doctor began as he reached down to pick up her phone. "Is why..." the Doctor looked at the little screen and his eyes went wide.

"What is it?" Amy asked. "What's wrong."

"Oh this is not good," the Doctor sighed as he took the phone over to the console and without moving his eyes off the screen plugged the phone in.

Then before all their eyes, a holographic image appeared and they all recoiled. "Don't take your eyes off it," the Doctor ordered as he switched his eyes from the screen of her phone to the holographic image. "Whatever it is, we forget it the moment that we stop looking at it."

"Are they quantum locked?" River asked as she circled around the still image of the alien. "Like the Angels?"

The Doctor shook his head. "No I don't think so."

"But I've seen these before," Canton whispered.

"We all have," Amy confirmed.

"I don't think that I would have forgotten this...thing."

"Clearly you did mate," Rory stated. "We all have."

"The question is why," the Doctor began as he stared at the creature. "We need to know why they're here in nineteen-sixty-nine, and who they are and how many of them they are."

"Doctor," River began cautiously. "The tunnels."

"What about them?"

"They're old," River answered. "Impossibly old."

"And these creatures were in there," Rory added.

"So they've set up shop underneath the warehouse..."

"Not just the warehouse," River continued. "The tunnels run underneath the entire world."

The Doctor broke his gaze from the alien and looked at River. "What?" he asked.

"I said that the tunnels run underneath the entire world," River answered, looking half at the alien image and half at the Doctor. "These creatures, whatever they are have invaded."

The Doctor looked at her with a confused look on his face and then turned around slowly. They all saw a moment when the Doctor was surprised by what he saw but then realization dawned on him.

"So we really do forget when we see them, but I understood what River was talking about with the aliens..."

"So what do we do?" asked Canton.

"We have to go around the world, and see how many of these nasties that there are," the Doctor explained.

"And how are we supposed to do this?" asked River.

"We don't remember them when we aren't looking at them,"

"Right Pond," the Doctor agreed. "Which is why we're all going to take pencils and we're all going to mark our selves."

"Mark ourselves?" Rory asked.

"Every time we see an alien," the Doctor continued. "Every time we come across one of these guys we're going to have to mark them down. That way we'll have a count of what we're dealing with."

"And what about me?" asked Canton.

"And what about you?" asked Amy.

"Canton and I are going to have to lay a trap," the Doctor explained. "To ensure that you guys have enough time to do your work."

"The president will not like that," Canton pointed out.

"No, and he'll ask you to hunt us all down," the Doctor agreed. "But it's what we want. We don't want to tip our hand to these guys. We don't want them to know what we're doing. Secrecy is our only weapon here. We need to make sure that there are no mistakes... because I have a feeling that everything depends on it."

...

THREE MONTHS LATER...

Amy was tired of running, but every time she looked down at the tally marks on her hands and arms and legs she was reminded of what she had to do. The Doctor's instructions were simple. Keep running. Keep looking. The world was in danger and while Amy couldn't really remember what it was in danger from she knew enough to trust what the Doctor had told her. And so she kept running— right to the edge of a ledge in the middle of the Utah desert.

She turned around, and saw two black cars converge of her position. There was no place for her to run. Amy just had to stop. Men in black and Canton came out of the cars and approached her.

"Canton," she began warily.

"Miss Pond," he greeted with a nod.

Canton turned to one of his agents and motioned to them. They spread something on the ground and Amy instantly realizes what it is. "Is that a body bag?" she asked.

"Yes it is," Canton answered.

Amy looked at the bag. "It's empty."

Canton follows her gaze. "How about that."

"Do you even know why you're doing this?" she asked desperately. "Can you even remember? The warehouse?"

Canton shook his head. "Goodbye Miss Pond."

And with that, Amy heard the gun pointed at her go off.

...

The next thing that she heard were muffled voices. One sounded a little like Canton, and the other she definitely thought was the Doctor. _Oh please let this almost be over, _she thought to herself as she tried to remain as still as possible. _I need to see him again, I need to tell him..._

Tell him what though? After they had escaped from the aliens, Amy didn't have a chance to clarify what she meant and in the three months that she had been away from the Doctor she had come to realize that she was well and truly in love with the time-lord, and probably had been since she first met him.

Then, without warning the zipper to her body bag was pulled down and the Doctor's face was above her. "You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," she answered. "I am."

"These things could do with air holes," Rory answered as Canton helped him out of his body bag.

Canton smiled at him. "Never had a complaint before."

Amy stood up and looked around the dark room that they were in. "So where are we?" she asked.

The Doctor grinned like a child. "The perfect prison."

"Thought we ran into that already," she replied.

"True but this is the only way to keep the outside world out."

Amy nodded, totally understanding how being isolated would keep the aliens from knowing where they were and what they were up to. "So, isn't it going to look odd that you're staying in here with us?" she asked looking at Canton.

Canton shook his head. "Not really. There's no way out of here."

"Which is why they think that we're trapped," the Doctor stated with a snap of his fingers, the TARDIS doors opening at his command. "Shall we gang?"

Amy nodded and raced into the TARDIS, Rory and Canton close behind.

"But what about Doctor Song?" he asked as the Doctor closed the TARDIS doors behind him. "She dove off a rooftop."

"Not to worry," the Doctor said with a smile. "It's all relative. Amy, Rory go and open all the doors to the swimming pool, we've got an archaeologist to save."

...

And save River they did. Thanks to some great flying by the Doctor they were able to stop her from plummeting to her death. Once they were all back together, the gang compared notes but realized that aside from realizing that there was an occupying force of the aliens all around the world, especially in North America and concentrated most around the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, there wasn't really much that they had learnt.

"What are we going to do?" River asked. "They're everywhere."

"What we need is a plan," the Doctor stated with a smile as he piloted the TARDIS. "And we've got the perfect one."

He raced to the doors and threw them open. River, Rory, Canton and Amy looked on in amazement at the Saturn V rocket which would take the Apollo 11 astronauts to the moon.

"Apollo 11 is the plan?" Rory asked.

The Doctor nodded. "That and finding the little girl."

...

_The plan was to split up_, Canton thought to himself as he looked for Amy. _Not to get lost. _

"You lost?" Amy asked as she suddenly appeared from around the corner.

"Amy?" he asked in surprise, something off about the girl, but it was something that he couldn't quite place.

"I found the next building, Greystark Hall is just down this way."

Canton nodded and followed Amy figuring that she was just as nervous and wear as he was. They turned the corner and the sight of Greystark Hall was a grisly one indeed. _How can a little girl be there in this place... it's so horrible. _

"Are you ready for this?" Amy asked him.

"Hope so," he stated with a grimace. They had been to so many orphanages. So much pain for those so young... it was almost more than Canton could bare.

Together they walked up to the orphanage and knocked. They were met by a strange man, one who seemed not all there. When they asked to come in the man agreed and Canton and Amy split up as they searched Greystark Hall.

Amy found herself searching upstairs, she knew that if she was going to run into the creatures, the little recording device that the Doctor had implanted in her hand would alert her. But even she didn't realize the magnitude of what was going on until she saw it blinking.

_Just get out, _she heard her voice crying out. _Just out. Now. _

And Amy decided to listen to herself but she found that she couldn't get out and that the marks on her skin were growing in number. She finally did get out of the room only to stumble across a child's room with a picture of a baby and herself.

"But that's impossible," she muttered to herself as she stared that the picture. "That can't be me..."

And then she head the mechanical breathing behind her.

...

Meanwhile, inside the oval office, after getting caught messing around in the command module of Apollo 11, the Doctor was talking to Nixon and trying to make the human understand what was at stake.

"You have to tape everything that happens in this office," the Doctor explained. "Every word, or we won't know if you're under the influence."

"Doctor," Nixon pleased. "You have got to give me more than this. What were you doing on Apollo 11?"

"A thing," the Doctor explained. "A clever thing. No more questions, you have to trust me and nobody else."

"Doctor!" River interrupted as she threw open the doors to the TARDIS which was parked in a corner of the oval office. "Doctor it's Canton. Quick, he needs us."

Without another word, the Doctor ran to the TARDIS and closed the door behind him. He manoeuvred around the controls. Something was gnawing at his stomach as he realized that River had said that Canton needed them, not Amy. _Oh please,_ he thought to himself as the TARDIS landed. _Let her be okay..._

TBC


	20. Stopping the Silence

DISCLAIMER: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC and their writers. I am getting no financial reward from this, I am merely borrowing the premise and characters for my own enjoyment and yours too hopefully.

Author's Note: Sorry for the massive delay, but I kinda lost inspiration for this story. With the announcement that Doctor Who is returning on August 27, I knew that I'd have to work like mad to catch up so that's what I plan to do. :D Thank you for all those who have reviewed or added this to your alerts / favourites so far. It really means a lot. Review this chapter if you've got the time and happy reading!

**Chapter Twenty: Stopping the Silence **

"Help me! Please, I can't... I can't see! Somebody help me!"

"Amy!" Canton called out as he tried to break down the door. "Amy can you hear me? Amy I'm going to try and blow the lock. I need you to stand back."

Canton raised his gun when the Doctor, Rory and River came running down the hall.

"Okay gun down Canton," the Doctor ordered. "I've got it. Amy we're here. Are you okay?" he asked as he soniced the lock.

"I can't see!" came Amy's frightened reply.

The Doctor opened the door and they all went in only to find the room empty.

"Doctor?" Rory asked "Where is she?"

The Doctor didn't seem to listen as he scanned the spacesuit while River opened the visor. "It's empty now."

"It's dark, it's so dark. I don't know where I am. Please, can anybody hear me?"

At the sound of Amy's voice the Doctor looked frantically around the room, stopping when Rory picked up the recorder that had been implanted in her skin. The Doctor felt like he couldn't move, or that he couldn't breathe, or that worst of all that his two hearts had stopped beating. In that moment, when there was so much at stake he realized just how much he cared for his fairy-tale girl, and he was determined to get her back.

"They took this out of her?" Rory asked. "How did they do that?"

The Doctor staid nothing, as every sob broke his hearts.

"Why can I still hear her?"

"Is it a recording?" River asked.

River's question spurned the Doctor into action and he scanned the little device. "It defaults to live," he stated sadly. "This is current. Wherever she is right now. This is what she's saying."

"Amy can you hear me?" Rory asked into the recorder. "Amy, we're going to find you. Wherever you are, we're coming I swear."

The Doctor shook his head. "She can't hear you. It's one way."

"Yeah and what are you going to do to save her?" Rory asked.

"Doctor?" Amy sobbed. "Are you out there? Can you hear me? Oh God, please please Doctor. Just get me out of this..."

"You better think of something quick," Rory stated angrily as he shoved the small device into the Doctor's hands. "She trusted you. I trusted you to keep her safe and you've let her get kidnapped by monsters that we can't even remember and—"

"Hello?" asked a voice. "Is someone in there? Who? I think someone has been shot. I think we should help. We, I can't... I can't remember."

Renfrew's voice broke the Doctor out of his despair. If he was going to save Amy then he needed to get close to one of the aliens and he was sure that the someone that had been shot was one of those aliens.

...

When the Doctor laid eyes on the creature he remembered them, at first he was fascinated, but then the fascination turned into a burning anger. "Okay. I've just got three questions for you. Who are you? What are you? And where is Amelia Pond?"

The creature held its wound and looked at the Doctor. "Silence," he answered. "We are the Silence."

_And Silence will fall..._

The Doctor remembered what he had been told and wondered what was going on. "We need to get this guy back to Area fifty-one," he stated angrily. "Then we need to get back to the warehouse."

...

Canton promised to take care of the Silence and with the Apollo 11 mission counting down, the Doctor knew that he didn't have enough time left. He and River spun theories as to why the little girl was in the suit and what she could possibly be, all the while Amy's sobs came streaming through the recorder. Each one was like another deathly blow, but the Doctor knew that the only way that he could save his Amy was to learn as much about the little girl and the Silence as possible.

And then his concentration was broken.

"I love you," Amy said suddenly. "I know you think that it ought to be him, because he'd be so much better for me but its not. It's you. And when I see you again, I'm going to tell you properly, just to see the look on your face and how you'll play with that stupid bow-tie. My life was so boring before you just dropped out of the sky. So please, just get yourself here. I need you. I love you."

The Doctor stood there, holding the recorder till Rory spoke.

"I knew it," he muttered somewhat bitterly. "It's always been you."

The Doctor looked to Rory with wild panic in his eyes.

"Can you save her?"

The Doctor nodded. "I can track that signal back," he answered. "Take us right to her."

"Then why haven't you?" Rory asked almost angrily.

"Because then what?" the Doctor asked furiously. "I find her and then what do I do? This isn't an alien invasion. They live here. This is their empire. This is kicking the Romans out of Rome and while every cell in my body is screaming at me to go and rescue her, I've got to think things through. I've got to do this smart."

"Never thought I'd hear the Oncoming Storm play things smart,"

The Doctor turned to River, mistrust in his eyes. "Who are you?"

River looked at him sadly as Amy pleaded for the Doctor to come and get her. "You'll find out soon enough Sweetie,"

...

Five days later, with the Apollo mission approaching the moon, Amy found herself waking up. There was a bright light in her eyes and she was strapped to a chair. "Where am I?" she asked. "What is this?"

One of the Silence turned to her. "You are Amelia Pond."

"You're ugly," Amy retorted bravely, though more brave then she felt. "Has anyone mentioned that to you?"

"We do you honour," the Silence continued. "You will bring the Silence. But your part will soon be over."

Amy tried to keep her voice calm. "Whatever that means, you've made a big mistake bringing me here because wait till you see what's coming for you now."

"You have been here many days."

"No," Amy argued. "I just got here. You just put me here."

"Your memory is weak. You have been here many days."

"No," Amy muttered, her bravado failing. "I can't have been."

"You will sleep now," the Silence stated. "Sleep."

"No!" she screeched. "No! Get off me."

"Sleep," the Silence soothed.

"No!" she cried out. "No!"

And then she heard the whir of the TARDIS and it materialized right there. The Silence turned to stare at it as the Doctor, River and Rory stepped out. The Doctor was carrying a TV and River was holding a gun. Rory's eyes went instantly to Amy and he could see that she only had eyes for the Doctor.

"Oh!" the Doctor exclaimed. " Interesting. Very Aickman Road, seen one of these before. Abandoned, wonder how that happened. Oh, well! I suppose I'm about to find out. Rory, River, keep one Silent in eyeshot at all times." he paused in his rambling and realized that the Silence were all watching him. "

Oh, hello, sorry. You're in the middle of something. Just had to say though, have you seen what's on the telly? Hello, Amy, you all right? Want to watch some television?" he asked as he set the TV on the console.

"Ah, now, stay where you are. Because look at me, I'm confident. You want to watch that, me, when I'm confident. Oh, and this is my friend, River. Nice hair, clever, has her own gun, and unlike me, she really doesn't mind shooting people. I shouldn't like that. Kind of do."

"Thank you sweetie."

"I know you're team players and everything," the Doctor continued. "But she'll definitely kill at least the first three of you."

River walked forward and stood back to back with the Doctor. "First seven, easily."

"Seven?" the Doctor asked. "Really?"

"Eight for you honey,"

"Stop it."

"Make me," she teased.

The Doctor glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "Maybe I will."

"Is this flirting really important?" Amy asked, trying to sound annoyed when inside her heart was crumbling. "I feel like I should be higher on the list right now."

The Doctor looked to Amy and could see through her brave face. Instantly his hearts sank and he couldn't help but wonder just WHAT he had been doing, flirting with River like he had been when he didn't even really like her. Sure she intrigued him, but it was Amy that he wanted.

"Sorry," he apologized, his voice soft and piercing before he put on his mad brilliant look again. "As I was saying, my friend here is going to kill the first three of you to attack, plus him behind. So maybe you'll want to draw lots. Or have a quiz."

At that moment Rory raced over to Amy and tried to free her.

"What's he doing?" she hissed to him.

"Something I hope," he replied.

The Doctor walked around the console and continued speaking. _"_Or maybe you could just listen a minute, because all I really want to do is accept your total surrender, and then I'll let you go in peace. You've been interfering in human history for thousands of years. People have suffered and died. But what's the point in two hearts, if you can't be a bit forgiving now and then."

The Doctor paused and stared into the leader's face. "Ooh! The Silence. You guys take that seriously, don't you? Okay, you got me, I'm lying. I'm not really going to let you go that easily. Nice thought, but it's not Christmas. First," he said as he turned on the television. "You tell me about the girl. Who is she? Why is she important? What's she for? Guys, sorry. But you're way out of time. Now, come on, a bit of history for you. Aren't you proud, because you helped?"

The Doctor pulled out the television antennae and continued speaking. "Do you know how many people are watching this live on the telly? Half a billion, and that's nothing, because the human race will spread out among the stars, you just watch them fly. Billions and billions of them, for billions and billions of years. And every single one of them, at some point in their lives, will look back at this man, taking that very first step, and they will never, ever forget it."

The Doctor stopped talking and watched as the moon landing progressed. "Oh," he added as he took out his phone. "But they'll forget about this...Ready?" he asked into the phone."

Amy stared at the screen, wondering what the Doctor was up to. And then she saw it, the image of the Silence saying that humans should kill the on sight.

"You've given the order for your own execution," the Doctor gloated. "And the whole planet just heard you."

"...one giant leap for mankind," Neil Armstrong finished.

"And one whacking great lick up the backside for the Silence!" the Doctor exclaimed. "You've just raised an army against yourself. And now, for a thousand generations, you're going to be ordering them to destroy you, every day. How fast can you run? Because today's the day the human race throw you off their planet."

The leader of the Silence started walking towards the Doctor and he got the distinct feeling that the guy was very, VERY angry at him. "They won't even know they're doing it," the Doctor continued proudly. "I think, quite possibly the word you're looking for right now is, "Oops!" Run! Guys, I mean us! Run!"

The Silence drew their energy and River began to fire. The Doctor used his sonic screwdriver to keep them away while Rory complained that he couldn't get Amy free.

"Go," Amy ordered. "Just go."

"We are not leaving with out you."

"Rory I don't want you to get killed."

"Yeah well the Doctor is going to kill me if I don't get you out of here."

"Right," River ordered as she continued to fire on the Silence as the Doctor ran over to Amy and freed her using his sonic screwdriver. "Into the TARDIS, quickly."

Amy and Rory did as they were asked while the Doctor rejoined River.

"Don't let them build to full power," he suggested.

"I know. There's a reason why I'm shooting, honey! What are you doing?" she asked.

"Helping,"

"You've got a screwdriver. Go build a cabinet!" River suggested.

"That's really rude."

"Shut up and drive."

The Doctor raced into the TARDIS while River took care of the rest of the monsters. When she was done she came into the TARDIS and stood next to the consoles.

"You can let me fly it," the Doctor suggested.

"Or we could go where we're supposed to."

While River and the Doctor piloted the TARDIS, Amy went to see Rory. "You okay?"

"You love him."

Amy's eyes widened. "What?"

"I heard you, on the recorder that was in your hand." Rory explained. "You love him."

Amy nodded slowly. "I think I always have."

Rory shook his head. "There was a part of me that was hoping,"

"That I'd return to Ledworth?" Amy interjected.

"Yeah," Rory mumbled. "Stupid."

"Oh you're not stupid," she assured as she hugged him. "Your my friend Rory and I'm sorry but you're meant for a stable well lived life. I need the excitement, the danger."

"But you nearly got killed," Rory pointed out as he pulled back.

"It's a hazard of the job,"

"I know but—"

"Rory," Amy soothed. "It's my life to live. Let me live if."

"But what if you get hurt?"

Amy shook her head. "I just..."

"I meant by him," Rory whispered as he indicated to the Doctor who was flirting with River. "They seem to be in love with each other."

Amy swallowed and looked away. "He doesn't know her."

"She knows him," Rory pointed out. "He's her past. She's his future."

"Time can be rewritten," Amy countered. "Things can change."

Rory sighed knowing that there was no arguing with her.

"Can I ask you a question?"

Amy nodded. "Course."

"Wills and Kate are getting married in a couple days, well a couple days from where I left and I was wondering if you'd like to come to London with me to—"

"Yes," Amy stated, knowing that by going with Rory she'd be completing the paradox that she had seen when she had spotted them both together.

"Really?" Rory asked, quite surprised.

"Really," she said with a grin. "Two friends, partaking in history."

...

After saying goodbye to the President, the Doctor took River back to Stormcage. Amy peered out the window of the TARDIS and saw with horror as River kissed the Doctor. She felt her heart breaking and when the Doctor made his way back to the TARDIS she made her self scarce from the window.

"Uh Doctor?" Rory began quickly. "Mind dropping Amy and I off in London, April 28, 2011."

"The day before the royal wedding?" the Doctor asked.

"Amy and I are going to camp out in the mall to see them kiss," Rory explained, noticing the strange look that the Doctor gave Amy. "You can have her back as soon as things are over."

The Doctor nodded and got to work at the controls.

...

By Amy's reckoning it was April 30, 2011 and she smiled as the Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS. Despite the fact that her heart broke every time that she thought of River and the Doctor together she knew that she'd rather put up with the heartbreak then never see the Doctor again.

He hugged her tightly and they both waved a fond farewell to Rory before stepping inside the special blue box.

"So..." the Doctor began awkwardly as soon as the TARDIS was spinning in the vortex.

"So?"

"Are you alright?"

Amy nodded. "Head's still fuzzy. There's a lot of stuff that I can't quite remember about nineteen-sixty-nine."

"After effect of the Silence. Natural enough. That's not what I was asking."

"Then what are you asking?" Amy asked, her heart racing.

"You uh, you told me something... in the warehouse."

Amy blushed and turned away from the Doctor. "Don't want to talk about that."

"No, no, no!" the Doctor insisted as he took Amy's face in his hands and turned her gaze back towards him. "I want to talk about it because... well when you were kidnapped you said..."

Knowing that just repeating what Amy had said wouldn't have been enough so he pulled out the recorder and pressed play.

"_I love you,"_ Amy's voice stated. _"I know you think that it ought to be him, because he'd be so much better for me but its not. It's you. And when I see you again, I'm going to tell you properly, just to see the look on your face and how you'll play with that stupid bow-tie. My life was so boring before you just dropped out of the sky. So please, just get yourself here. I need you. I love you." _

The recording stopped there and the Doctor looked up at Amy. There was an a look of embarrassment and horror in her eyes. But the closer the Doctor looked, the more he saw that there were tears in her eyes as well.

"Hey now," he soothed as he pulled Amy into his arms, and that simple wonderful act allowed Amy to let down the walls that she had so proudly built. The metaphorical flood gates opened and she found herself clinging to the Doctor and sobbing.

"I thought I had lost you," she mumbled into his shoulder.

"You'll never lose me," he assured as he rubbed her back.

Amy shook her head. "But you're in love with River."

_And you're going to die unless I can stop it,_ she added silently.

The Doctor pushed her away ever so gently. "River?"

Amy nodded. "I saw you snogging her."

The Doctor cursed his flirtations with River. "She initiated it."

"But I guessed it," Amy continued. "Ages ago. You're married."

The Doctor shook his head. "I don't know who River is, and I don't know what she holds in my future but I do know one thing Amelia Pond."

"And what's that?" she sniffled.

"I know, that I l—" the Doctor paused and thought good and hard about what he was going to say. He hadn't said those human words ever. Lifetimes ago when he had been married and had a family, the word wasn't all that applicable. Gallifreayans didn't really know the meaning of the word and all it's nuances. A certain blonde from London changed all that for the Doctor and he had almost said it to her then... but never got the chance.

A pang ran through the Doctor's two hearts as he thought of the first human that he really truly cared about. She was in another parallel world now, with a copy of himself and by all accounts, probably very happy. _What's done is done,_ he told himself as he looked down into Amy's waiting gaze. _I can't dwell on the past any longer. Time to let go and move on. _

"I love you," the Doctor finished, watching the light grow in Amy's eyes. "You and you alone."

Amy smiled and looked at him with wide eyes. "Really?"

The Doctor nodded and before either of them knew what had happened, Amy was kissing the Doctor and this time, unlike the time in her bedroom, he was kissing her back. When Amy finally pulled away, breathless she couldn't help but laugh.

"Right then," the Doctor began with a smile as he went to the TARDIS consoles. "Time for something brilliant. Time to have some adventures... where do you want to go Amy darling?"

Amy shrugged her shoulders. "Take me somewhere new."

The Doctor smiled and spun the TARDIS into action.

TBC


	21. By the Hand of Captain Avery

DISCLAIMER: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC and their writers. I am getting no financial reward from this, I am merely borrowing the premise and characters for my own enjoyment and yours too hopefully.

Author's Note: Well here it is folks, the chapter where I desecrate cannon with glee. :D Sorry to say though that I'm not a hundred percent sure as to how I'm going to explain away River Song, I mean I know what I'm going to do I'm just not sure that it's the right course of action and... I'm babbling. I don't have to write THAT particular scene for a while yet. Anyhoo this is the longest chapter to date so if you like or even if you don't, please leave a review!

**Chapter Twenty-One: By the Hand of Captain Avery **

The Doctor was somewhat disappointed. He had wanted to take Amy somewhere new, somewhere very exciting, but when he got a sharp distress call from somewhere in the past he knew that he had to investigate. "It's alright Doctor," she had assured as the TARDIS settled down in the storage of the mysterious ship. "Helping people is what you do... and that usually ends up being pretty exciting anyways."

And the Doctor knew that Amelia Pond was right. Helping people is what he did do, what he had always done. While the vast majority of the Time Lords had been willing to sit back and watch the universe spin, the Doctor had always been compelled to do something more with his life and the lives of those he encountered. Such a thing wasn't without pain, he knew that— he had lost too many friends and companions to count but he knew that wherever he went, helping people was what he was meant to do.

So the Doctor and Amy left the TARDIS in the storage compartment of the old wooden ship and made their way up on deck— or at least they tried to. The doors were sealed shut and so the Doctor implored Amy to be quiet and for the first time she actually listened to him. They stood at the door while the Doctor fiddled with his sonic screwdriver, unawares that on the other side of that door there were men frightened out of their wits and then there was the strange singing and the mist that seemed to hold the ship in it's grasp.

Finally Amy had had enough of waiting. "Why don't we just knock?"

And the Doctor couldn't argue with her, it was a most brilliant suggestion and so they knocked on the door until the doors burst open of their own accord leaving Amy and the Doctor to be staring up at a bunch of fearsome pirates.

"Yo ho ho!" the Doctor exclaimed heartily until he realized the looks on the faces of the men who were staring down at him. "Or does nobody actually say that?" he asked again, looking rather guiltily at Amy.

"You both will come to the Captain's Cabin," one man with a beard stated, seemingly to be in charge. "There you'll explain everything."

"So what do you want to know?" the Doctor asked once they were ushered into the tiny cabin.

"What are you doing here in the middle of nowhere?" the Captain asked. "You weren't with us when we left port, I know that much."

"You signalled," the Doctor answered simply.

"We made no signal."

"Our sensors picked you up," the Doctor added. "Ship in distress."

The Captain looked curiously at him. "Sensors?"

"Yes," he replied, and then he realized just why the Captain of the ship was looking at him with such a confused look on his face. "Right, problem world. Seventeenth Century, My ship automatically er noticed, that your ship was having some bother."

"That big blue crate?" the Captain asked. While his men lead the two strangers to his cabin, he had taken a quick look in the storage and could not help but notice the strange blue box that had not been there the last tie that he had checked.

The Doctor snapped his fingers and then had to listen while one of the pirates who was in the room said that it was more magic. And the Doctor had to assure them that they were not magic but just scientific.

"Look," he amended realizing that his manners were most certainly lacking. "I'm the Doctor and this is my companion Amy. We're pirates, same as you. Arggg!"

The Doctor turned to look at the pirates behind them and then when he turned back to face Captain Avery he realized that the an was holding a gun at his head. "What is with people and the trying to shoot me," the Doctor wondered aloud, thinking back to how back in the White House he had faced the same thing.

"You're stowaways," the Captain Avery stated with a grimace. "It's the only explanation. Eight days we've been stranded here, Becalmed. You must have stowed away before we sailed, but I don't know how..."

"What do we do with 'em?" one of the pirates asked.

"Oh, I think they deserve our hospitality."

...

The next thing the Doctor and Amy knew, they were standing on the ships deck, Amy was back being held captive by the pirates while the Doctor was standing at the edge of the plank which jutted over the side of the ship like a deadly diving board. The Doctor looked genuinely frightened to Amy and the pirates just laughed.

"I suppose that laughing like this is in the job description," the Doctor stated as he tried to lighten his fear. "Can you do the laugh?" he asked, pretending that he was conducting an interview. "Check. Grab yourself a parrot. Welcome aboard."

"The Stocks are low," Captain Avery stated. "Only one barrel of water remains. We don't need two more empty bellies to fill. Take the lady below to the galley. Set her to work. She won't need much feeding."

"Get your grubby hands off of me," Amy exclaimed as she struggled against the pirates who were leading her away from the Doctor.

"Amelia!" the Doctor yelled, but it was too late. His companion had been taken down below the deck.

As soon as she was led to the galley, the pirates left Amy alone and she instantly started looking around and eventually she found a chest that was filled with swords. She took one out and instantly liked the feel of it. She then grabbed a long coat and a tricorn hat for fun figuring if she was going to act like a pirate and save the Doctor's life she might as well look like one.

...

"Where's the rest of the crew?" the Doctor asked curiously. "This is a big ship. Big for the five of you. I suppose that the rest of them are hinding someplace, and their going to jump out and shout 'boo' any minute now."

"Boo!" came Amy's voice and they all turned to see her pointing a sword at Captain Avery's throat. "Throw the gun down," she ordered watching as the Captain did as she asked. 'And the rest of you on your knees."

"What are you doing Pond?" the Doctor asked curiously.

"Saving your life," Amy retorted. "You okay with that?"

"Put down the sword," Captain Avery asked. "A sword could kill us all girl."

"Yep thanks," Amy replied cheerfully. "That's why I'm pointing it at you."

"Amy..." the Doctor warned, suddenly feeling as though something was terribly wrong with the pirate ship. "I think that you should let the good Captain go."

Amy shook her head. "Not until he lets you go."

"Off of the plank with you," the Captain ordered. "Quickly now."

The pirates backed away, letting the Doctor to return to the relative safety of the deck but as soon as he did so, one of the pirates got a little jumpy and went at Amy brandishing nothing more than a wooden handle. The Doctor wanted to help Amy, but to his utmost surprise she was able to handle herself and the weapon with ease and she even managed to cut one of the pirates.

"You have killed me," he stated melodramatically.

"It's just a cut," Amy replied. "What kind of rubbish pirates are you?"

"One drop," the Captain stated wearily. "That's all it takes. One drop of blood and she will rise out of the ocean."

"Come on," Amy asked, feeling as though her image of pirates would be ruined forever if they acted like nothing more than big babies. "I barely even scratched him. What are you all in a such a huff about?"

Another pirate approached Amy and she defended herself, however this time she fumbled with the sword and ended up cutting herself and watched in horror as a black spot appeared on her hand.

"Doctor?" she asked, suddenly feeling very scared. "What's happening to e?"

"She can smell the blood on your skin," Avery stated. "She's marked you for death."

The Doctor was at Amy's side, scanning her palm anxiously with his sonic when Captain Avery said more.

"A demon, out there in the ocean."

As if on cue, a song began to be sung and the one pirate who had been cut was walking dangerously towards the edge of the ship. All eyes watched as an eerie woman walked towards them and stole the pirate before their eyes.

The Doctor was fascinated with the creature but his fascination stopped when he realized that Amy was being drawn to the creature. "We need to get her out of here," the Doctor stated as he held her back. "Now."

"Down below," the Captain suggested. "It might save her."

...

Once below, Amy seemed to regain her senses for which the Doctor was extremely grateful. "What was that thing?" he asked.

"The legend," the Captain replied. "The Siren. Many a merchant ship, laden with treasure has fallen prey to her. She's been hunting us ever since we were becalmed, picking off the injured."

"Like a shark," one of the pirates stated. "She can smell blood."

"She's a shark, in a dress that sings and is green."

"The ship is cursed," Captain Avery stated.

The Doctor shook his head. "Cursed is a big word with humans but all it means is that you can't be bothered to find an explanation."

"Doctor," Amy began worriedly. "We should leave. Now."

"This box of yours, is a ship?" Avery asked.

The Doctor nodded. "Through not propelled by the wind."

"Then show me," the Captain ordered as one of his men cried out.

"It's a leech!" Amy remarked worriedly.

"Don't worry," the Doctor assured. "She won't get in."

But as soon as he had said that, he heard singing.

The Doctor turned around. "Hello there."

The pirate that had been injured by the leech walked past the Doctor and was killed by the Siren, and Amy would have followed except the Doctor held her back.

"Storage!" Captain Avery ordered. "Now!"

...

"Are we safe now?" Amy asked, quickly coming back to herself.

"Think so," the Doctor answered.

"How did she get in?" the Captain asked.

The Doctor looked around and then realized something. "The bilge water, she's using the water like a portal... a door. She can materialize through a single drop. We need to go somewhere with no water."

"We're in the middle of the ocean!" Amy pointed out dryly.

"The magazine," Captain Avery suggested.

"The where?" asked Amy.

"The armoury, where the powder is stored," the Doctor explained.

"Dry as a bone," Avery assured.

"Well then let's go there," Amy stated. "I don't like her."

...

Once in the magazine, Captain Avery gave the order to barricade the door and to be careful with the lantern. He didn't want one of his few remaining pirates blowing them all to hell. And then they head a cough. The Doctor, the pirates and Amy looked around and they encountered a small boy, who was the Captain son.

"I've come to join your crew," the boy stated.

Avery shook his head. "I don't want you here."

"You can't send me back. We're a hundred miles from hoe."

"It's dangerous," Avery countered. "There's a monster aboard who leaves a mark on the skin."

"The black spot?" the boy asked as he held out his hand coughing as he did so. Up until that moment the Doctor had been working under the assumption that the siren went after blood but with the appearance of the boy he realized that the siren must be after those who are injured and / or sick. And the Doctor realized that the only way to save the boy and everyone else was to get off the ship, but that required the TARDIS.

Captain Avery decided that he would go with the Doctor to get his blue box, and Amy pulled the Doctor aside as the Captain was giving orders to his remaining crew.

"Sure you want to go?" she asked.

"We've got to get Toby and you away from here."

"Agreed," Amy stated. "But don't scratch any itches too hard."

The Doctor gave her a wry smile. "We've all got to go sometime."

Amy gulped and wrapped her arms around the Doctor.

"I'll be careful," he assured as he hugged her back. "Promise."

...

The Doctor went after the TARDIS with the Captain and quickly found that there was something wrong with her and was completely panicked when she vanished completely. "Not much of a Captain without a ship are you?" Captain Avery mocked.

And as far as Amy was concerned, she was fine just sitting with the boy. Then they heard a pounding at the door, it was the Doctor and the Captain, going on about something about reflections.

Amy let the Doctor and the Captain in before helping them to destroy everything with a reflection. But they didn't count on the Captain's greed and it nearly cost them all their lives.

Amy was taken by the creature, falling off the side of the ship and into the water. The Doctor wanted to race after her but he realized that the only way to get his Amy back was to be taken by the siren himself. And so the Captain and the Doctor cut their hands, and found themselves taken by the Siren.

...

"Where are we?" Captain Avery asked as he and the Doctor awoke.

"We haven't moved," the Doctor stated. "We're in the same place."

"A ghost ship," Avery murmured.

The Doctor shook his head. "This is real. This ship is trapped."

"Two ships in the same place?" Avery asked.

"Not same place, different planes. Two worlds, side by side like on the other side of a mirror."

Avery nodded. "I believe I understand."

The Doctor and Avery explored the ship and eventually stumbled upon the sickbay. Avery saw that his men were alive, as was his son and the Doctor was thankful to not only find his TARDIS but his beloved Amelia as well.

"They look well,"

"She's keeping them alive," the Doctor stated. "The black spot isn't a curse, it's a sample of tissue, to determine what's wrong."

Captain Avery went to his son while the Doctor went to Amy. He managed to wake her up but was stopped by the Siren. His mind worked furiously, trying to figure out why he wasn't aloud to help her. He then realized that he had to prove that he would accept responsibility for her condition.

"I love her," the Doctor pleaded. "Please. Understand."

The siren stared at the Doctor before holding out something, which he then realized was a consent form, and the Doctor willingly placed his hand in the light. The siren vanished and Amy woke up again.

"Where am I?" she asked.

"You're in a hospital," the Doctor replied. "If you leave, you might die and if you stay, you'll stay forever and the Siren will keep you safe."

Amy blinked back tears. "And if I come with you?"

"Drowning," he answered honestly. "To the point of death."

Amy took a deep breath and racked her brain, trying to figure out what to do. "Rory," she stated finally.

"Rory?" the Doctor asked.

"He's a nurse."

"So?"

"He taught me things," Amy replied. "I can teach you how to save my life."

"Wait,"

"If I was drowning you'll have to preform CPR on me."

"But Amy..."

"It's the kiss of life," she interrupted. "Press down on my chest and breath into my lungs, and make sure that you plug my nose too. You can do it."

"But I've never done it before."

Amy just smiled at him. "When has that ever stopped you."

"What if you don't come back to life?" the Doctor asked. "What then?"

"I trust you," Amy assured.

"But why do we have to do this?"

"Because you've saved me a hundred times already," Amy replied softly. "You can save me again."

The Doctor gripped Amy's hand trying to decide what to do. Part of him just wanted to leave her on the ship where she'd be safe and alive, but the other part of him couldn't let that happen. And so he nodded. "Okay," he stated. "Just give me a second."

The Doctor turned and walked to the Captain. "We have to send this ship back into space. If she got ashore, she would have to help every injured human."

"And what about my son?" Avery asked.

"Typhoid fever," the Doctor stated honestly. "I'm sorry. Once he returns it's only a matter of time."

"And if I stay with him?"

"You want to leave your world behind?" the Doctor asked.

"Nothing's left for me there," Avery stated. "And what home does he have now if not with me?"

The Doctor nodded. "Do you think that you can sail this thing?"

Avery smiled. "Just point me to the atom accelerator."

The Doctor nodded. "Just let me save Amy first."

"Course."

The Doctor walked over to Amy and held her hand.

"Ready?" he asked.

Amy nodded. "I know that you can do this. Course if you much it up, I'll be really cross with you."

The Doctor gave her the best smile that he could muster. "Love you." he stated as he leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"Love you too," she whispered.

With his two hearts racing, the Doctor unhooked Amy from the device and lifted her into his arms. She was gasping for breath and by the time he laid her on the floor of the ship, she wasn't breathing at all. The Doctor did as she had told him. He pushed down on her chest and then blew into her mouth, trying to expel the water from them. Then he repeated the process.

"Come on Amy," he pleaded. "Not this way. Not today."

The Doctor repeated the process a third time.

"Come on Amy, come on."

The Doctor repeated CPR for a fourth time.

"Wake up Amy," he begged. "Wake up. Wake up!"

The Doctor did CPR on her for a fifth and finally a sixth time before he began to realize that she wasn't coming back to him. The one human he had confessed his love to and she was gone. The Doctor choked back sobs and pulled Amy towards him.

"Sorry," he apologized, feeling as though his hearts were well and truly breaking. "So sorry," but as soon as he apologized for failing her, Amy began coughing up water. As soon as she was fully conscious, she sought out the Doctor's face and stared at him in amazement.

"You did it!" she exclaimed as she thew her arms around his neck. "Oh Doctor, you did it."

"Amy," he murmured burying his face in her hair. "My Amy."

"Thank you Doctor," she sobbed. "Thank you."

Captain Avery stood looking at the pair, before he coughed to signal attention. The Doctor looked up and realized that he had to show the good Captain / Pirate a few things. "Right uh, Amy will you be okay for a little bit?"

Amy nodded and took a deep breath. "I'm not going anywhere."

...

Once the Doctor showed the Captain how to pilot the ship and what to do if something broke down. For added help, the Doctor programmed a new hologram to act as a mechanic and once they were ready to set sail for the stars, the Doctor turned to Avery.

"Captain if you please, I've got one more favour to ask of you."

"Anything Doctor," Avery assured.

...

The Doctor made his way back to Amy and helped her off up the ground. "Amy," he began quietly. "I'd like to do one thing before we go."

"Yeah?" she asked curiously. "What's that."

The Doctor leaned forward and whispered in her ear. "Marry me."

Amy stood back, and stared wide eyed at the Doctor. "What?"

"I almost lost you just now," he stated, completely vulnerable and suddenly afraid that Amy didn't want him. "I don't want to lose you ever... and I want you to be my wife."

For Amy she couldn't believe what she was hearing and so she said nothing. "But I'm... I'm human," she stated.

"Don't you love me?" he asked, fearful.

"Course I do," Amy assured as her mind tried to process what he was saying.

"Then..."

"But I'm human," Amy repeated suddenly well aware of her own mortality. "You're a Time Lord you'll live..." she paused and thought back to what River told her before finishing the sentence anyways. "You'll live forever."

"Not forever," the Doctor assured. "Just, a very long time."

"Longer than me," Amy countered.

The Doctor shook his head. "Living as many lives as I have, seeing as many people go... it's heartbreaking yes but what would be more heartbreaking would to not be by your side and to have you not be by mine. I love you Amelia Pond. Marry me?"

Amy had to blink back the tears. "Yes," she cried. "I'll marry you."

The Doctor's face broke out into a huge grin and then he kissed her.

...

Once all the pirates and Toby were awake, Captain Avery stood before them all with Amy and the Doctor standing before him. They had both gone to the TARDIS closet to get clothing more suited to a wedding. The Doctor wore a top hat and tails while Amy wore a short yet elegant lace white dress.

"It's not very often that I get to join two souls together in marriage," he stated fondly. "And it's even rarer that I get to do it in such a strange environment but I know that Amy and the Doctor have brave hearts. They have faced the impossible and come through it stronger than ever. No two people are better suited for each other as they are and they are going to speak from the heart and exchange their vows."

"Amy," the Doctor began quietly. "You are the most remarkable human that I've ever met and more than that you're the girl who waited... and I'm glad that you did because you managed to capture my hearts and soul completely. I love you and I will love you, forever."

Amy choked back tears and bit her lip before she spoke. "Doctor," she began with a quivering voice. "My raggedy Doctor. You dropped in from the sky in that mad blue box of yours and changed my world. Yes, you made me wait for fourteen years but you're right it was well worth the wait. Every day that passed made me love you more and I am so thankful that you have brought me into your world. I love you Doctor. I always have and I always will and while I know that my forever won't be as long as yours, I will love you forever."

Captain Avery smiled at the happy couple. "I don't suppose that you have a ring?" he asked.

The Doctor looked surprised before realizing that he did. With a goofy grin he pulled them out. One was ladies size and the other was for him. The Doctor placed the gold band on Amy's finger saying "With this ring, I thee wed," and she repeated the process.

"Then, by the power that I have as Captain I am proud to announce you husband and wife you may kiss—"

But Captain Avery didn't have to finish his sentence because the Doctor and Amy were already kissing.

TBC


	22. The Doctor's Wife

DISCLAIMER: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC and their writers. I am getting no financial reward from this, I am merely borrowing the premise and characters for my own enjoyment and yours too hopefully.

Author's Note: I loved "The Doctor's Wife" the whole concept of the TARDIS having a soul and her finally getting to meet the Doctor but I'm not going to have that incident here. Instead, we're taking a different look at the Doctor and the Doctor's Wife...

**Chapter Twenty-Two: The Doctor's Wife **

The Doctor and Amy said goodbye to their new found pirate friends and made their way back to the TARDIS. Amy for one felt like she was in a dream, and the Doctor couldn't believe that it was possible to feel so completely happy.

"Can I ask you something Doctor?" she asked as she entwined her hand with his.

"Course my wife."

Amy grinned. "I like the sound of it."

"Yeah," the Doctor agreed. "Me too."

They shared another soul-searing kiss before Amy pulled away.

"I just have to ask, and forgive me if this is completely random and I'm not entirely sure whether or not I want to know the answer but Doctor, where did you get those wedding bands? I mean, you weren't planning on marrying any of your other companions were you?

_How long are you going to stay with me? _

_Forever._

The Doctor shook his head and finally let go of the past.

"Truth be told Amy I'm not the marrying kind."

"But you-"

"The rings came with the suit, and the suit came from from... well I don't remember where it came from but people give me all sorts of things. I have been around for over nine-hundred years."

Amy laughed, feeling much better. "So where are we going to go for our honeymoon?"

"Honeymoon?" the Doctor asked, feeling rather startled.

"Oh yes," Amy answered with a predatory grin. "Must have a honeymoon."

"Does it have to be somewhere romantic?"

"Preferably."

"So a planet then?"

"Or Rio," Amy suggested. "We never did get to Rio."

The Doctor shook his head. "Too ordinary."

Amy wrapped her arms around the Doctor. "There's one thing..."

"And what's that?"

Amy grinned and whispered in his ear. When she looked at the Doctor she could see that he was blushing and she laughed. "You do know that that's what married people do right?"

"Well of course," he answered pulling away from her, feeling quite overwhelmed. "But I thought... I don't know what I thought but..."

"Aren't I attractive Doctor?" Amy asked with a pout.

The Doctor felt his nervous energy deflate and he scooped Amy up into his arms. "Ask an you shall receive Mrs. Doctor."

Amy smiled. "Let's get going Mr. Pond."

The Doctor's brow furrowed. "It doesn't work like that."

Amy giggled. "Course it does."

"Course it does," the Doctor agreed with a resigned sigh before taking Amelia Pond, the girl who waited, his new bride up to his bedroom.

...

The two love birds eventually did leave their room in the TARDIS. While the Doctor enjoyed the more physical nature of being married, he was still a Time Lord and as a Time Lord he was apt to want to go on an adventure. So he and Amy ended up going to Rio where they saved a little girl from a soul-sucking alien. They then went to the Eleventh Moon of Kiaxa Nova where they stopped an evil dictator from taking over the entire system using a form of magnetic waves and they visited the planet of the Eternal Twilight, tidally locked so one area was bathed forever in light, the other in perpetual darkness and along the middle rim, there was the only inhabited zone, a land of perpetual, eternal twilight- hence the name. It was here that Amy and the Doctor were able to rest and relax, and enjoy all the moments of being married.

There was a moment, the first week on the planet of eternal twilight where the Doctor and Amy had had a good scare. They had been walking along a mountain path, when they had been separated. The Doctor had heard something and had gone after it and while Amy followed, she couldn't find him. It was Amy's scream, which brought them back together again and the Doctor swore to her that he'd not let her out of his sight again. After three weeks or so in Twilight land and about three months after they had been married, Amy began to get restless. It had been about three months since they had gotten married and the Doctor could sense a change in her.

"I know what's bothering you," he said at last after watching her for a while.

Amy looked at her husband sharply. "Nothing's bothering me."

"Course there is. I know you well enough by now to know that that look means that there is most definitely something bothering you."

"I promise you Doctor, there's nothing wrong with me."

"I never said that there was something wrong with you Amy darling," the Doctor assured. "I just said that there was something bothering you, and that I know what it is."

"Oh yeah?" Amy asked with a smile. "What is that then?"

The Doctor leaned in very close, almost nose to nose and whispered. "You miss your parents."

Amy opened her mouth to disagree with him but found that she couldn't. He was right. He was always right where the she was concerned. "Alright," she conceded. "I do miss them, and I want to see them again and er... ask my mum something."

"Oh?" the Doctor asked with an amused look on his face. "And what might that be?"

"Nothing that you need to know silly,"

"But I know everything."

Amy shook her head. "Not this you don't. This is between a mother and her daughter,"

The Doctor paused and regarded Amy very carefully. There was something different about her, something that he couldn't quite place but then he decided that he wasn't going to figure it out all at once. "So Ledworth?" he asked with a smile as he threw some controls on the console.

Amy grinned as the TARDIS went spinning off into space.

.

"Hello?" Amy asked with a tentative voice as she walked through the threshold of her home. "Mom? Dad? You guys home?"

"Amelia?" called a voice from the kitchen. "Is that you?"

Amy and the Doctor watched as her parents came walking to the front door.

"It's Amelia, Augusta!" Tabatha exclaimed excitedly as she embraced her daughter.

"Little Amelia," her father cooed as he joined the mother-daughter embrace.

"It's been over a year," her mother complained. "Why haven't you visited us."

"I'm sorry," Amy apologized. "But I'm here now."

"Yes and where were you a month ago?" her father asked.

"That's right," Tabatha stated sternly as she pulled away. "Rory came to visit us, said that you and he had been to London to watch the coronation. He had thought that you would have stopped here before you jetted off again but no. That was very inconsiderate of you Amelia," her mother chastised. "How could you not visit us?"

"I'm sorry," Amy apologized again. "I guess I…"

"It's my fault really," the Doctor interjected. "We got a distress call and it just wouldn't keep." Amy looked to her husband and gave him a questioning look. The Doctor just met her gaze with a shrug and continued speaking. "So you see if you're going to blame anyone, you should be blaming you."

"And we do," Tabatha said harshly. "You're the one who took our baby away from us. Who do you think you are exactly? You drop out of the sky in your big blue box and whisk her off her feet taking her to god knows where."

"Rory has told us all about you," Augusta added. "All the danger that you put our Amy in. I want you to know that as her father, I do not believe that travelling the universe is best for her and Amy," he paused and turned to his daughter. "You've always been a wild spirit, your mother and I have always accepted that but this time you've gone too far. You're going to stay right here in this house where you belong."

"Yes and you're going to marry Rory," her mother added. "He's seemed to lost all hope in the two of you patching things up, but I haven't."

Amy opened her mouth to speak but the Doctor interjected before she could say anything. "Actually Mr and Mrs Pond, Amy marrying Rory is going to be quite an impossibility at the moment."

"Oh?" asked Tabatha with a raised eyebrow. "And why is that?"

"Just who are you?" her father added. "What claim do you have on our daughter."

"His name is the Doctor," Amy interjected, standing up for him. "He's a Time-Lord who travels through time and space and…" she paused and took the Doctor's hand lovingly. "And he's my husband."

"Your… what?" sputtered Tabatha.

"My husband," Amy repeated, holding up her left hand to show her mother and father the wedding ring that was there. "The Doctor asked me to marry him and…"

"And she said yes," he added gleefully. "Isn't that remarkable?"

They both glanced at each other before looking at Amy's parents. Both looked rather unnerved and a heavy silence descended upon the group. For a couple seconds, the only sound that was heard was the ticking of the wall clock and then finally Tabatha found her voice. "I think that I better put some tea on."

"Yes," Augusta agreed. "We all need a cuppa I think."

.

Amy's mother was in the kitchen making tea and her father was in his study talking on the phone. Amy and the Doctor sat side by side and Amy was fretting inside. If this was how her parents reacted to her and the Doctor being married, how would her mother react to her suspicions that she was pregnant. It had started just before they had reached the planet of Twilight. Amy had noticed that she had missed her period and then three weeks later, when it still hadn't come she started to wonder if she was pregnant.

Due to the lack of a pharmacy anywhere, Amy couldn't pick up a pregnancy test and she wasn't about to ask the Doctor to do a scan on her. The only thing that she could think of was to come home to her mother and ask her for help. But now Amy was worried that she was only going to make matters worse. The thought of being pregnant was a scary thought, made all the more so by the fact that she wasn't sure whether or not she was going to have a normal baby.

She knew that the Doctor was a Time Lord, a whole other species to herself but she never thought that they'd be able to even HAVE children. She had hoped of course, the thought of having little red heads running around was quite appealing, but Amy was an adventurer at heart and she was worried that having children would mean that she'd lose that exciting aspect of her life even though she was trading it in for the Doctor's children.

"I'm sorry," she apologized at last, unable to stand the silence between them any longer. "I didn't know that they were going to react like that."

"It's alright," the Doctor assured as he took his wife's hand in his. "I mean it's not like you really know them."

"Course I know them," Amy argued. "They're my parents."

"Yes but all I'm saying is that you have two sets of memories… don't you?"

Amy nodded. "It's strange really," she began, realizing that she was talking to the Doctor about the events of the Big Bang and her life previous to the reset of the universe. "I can remember my parents. I remember everything from this life but it's like a façade. Underneath all those happy years is the memory of my first life… my true life."

"The only life that counts is the life that you live now," the Doctor assured. "Listen to me Amy. All those years without your parents, they never really happened."

"But I remember," she stated, tears in her eyes.

"Yes I know," he soothed, placing his hand on her cheek. "And I'm sorry, so sorry for the pain that you went through, but you need to lock that previous life behind a door. You'll never be able to let yourself truly live if you're caught up in what happened in the past."

"Now then," interrupted Tabatha as she came into the sitting room with a kettle and tea cups on a silver tray. "I believe that we have a lot to talk about."

"Yes," August agreed as he too came into the room. "But we need to wait for Rory."

"Rory?" asked Amy looking at her parents. "What has he got to do with this?"

"He's got everything to do with this," her father continued. "He's your best friend."

"The Doctor is my best friend," Amy insisted.

"Oh you tell him everything do you?" Tabatha asked as there was a knock at the door. Augusta rose and went to welcome Rory into his home. The minute that Rory came into the sitting room his eyes flickered to Amy and the Doctors entwined hands.

"So what your Dad says is true then," Rory stated in a voice that was hard for anyone in the room to read. "You both are married?"

Amy and the Doctor glanced at each other worriedly before looking back to Rory whose face was now lightening up with a grin. "This is brilliant!" he exclaimed as he raced forward to hug both Amy and the Doctor. "This is amazing. I always figured,"

Amy pulled back from her hug and looked carefully at Rory. He might have been smiling, but his smile didn't quite reach her eyes and she realized with a start that Rory was still in love with her— and he probably always would be.

"You're not cross with me are you?" she asked tentatively. "Or the Doctor?"

"So long as he keeps you safe then I'll be happy," Rory said honestly. "You will keep her safe Doctor, won't you?"

The Doctor nodded. "You have my word Rory."

Rory smiled. "Well I figure that you always took good care of her before, I reckon that you'll be even more protective now that she's your wife."

"You're not angry with them?" Tabatha asked curiously.

"I thought that you'd be furious son," Augusta added.

Rory shook his head. How could he be angry with his best friend and the man that she had grown to love. Rory knew deep down that Amy always loved the Doctor. She fell in love with the Time Lord when she was eight years old. Amy hadn't even met him yet. There was no way that Rory could have ever competed with even the memory of the Doctor and while he wasn't happy that he had lost Amy— he had come to understand that it was an inevitability.

"You should be happy for her," Rory said at last. "She's in great hands."

"That I am," Amy agreed as she looked to her parents. "Can you… be happy for us?"

Tabatha and Augusta looked to each other, clearly confused. There daughter had always been a wild spirit, that much they had always known. And they had also always known just how much she doted on the Doctor, even when he was just a figment of her imagination.

It was Tabatha who broke first. She smiled and gave her daughter a giant hug. Then she kissed the Doctor on his forehead and whispered to him, "Welcome to the family son."

.

Amy and the Doctor agreed to stay in the house for a couple days. "You can't just drop in on us for a couple hours and then go on your merry way again," Amy's mother had told them. "You've got to stay for a couple days at the very least." And so after an afternoon filled with laughter at the many tales that Amy and the Doctor had enjoyed together, Rory retired to his home, Amy's parents retired to their room, leaving Amy and the Doctor to do the same. They both fell into bed, and after a couple very quiet rounds of enjoying each other's company, both Amy and the Doctor fell sound asleep. The Doctor had a dreamless sleep while Amy had a nightmare.

_She was in the twilight, running for her life. She was being chased by something, something that she had hoped to never see again. She couldn't quite make them out, but Amy knew what they were. The Silence. The monsters that were going to end up killing her husband; she wouldn't stand for it. She couldn't stand for it. Amy was going to destroy them on sight, but there were many of them and only one of her— she was quickly overpowered. _

Amy awoke with a start and a stifled scream in her throat. Her eyes adjusted to her surroundings and she realized that she was safe in her home in Ledworth. The Doctor was asleep beside her, her parents were down the hall. There was nothing for her to be afraid of. Yet Amy was afraid. She was very afraid. And that's when she heard it, the sound of something sliding open.

Amy looked behind her, to the place where the crack in her wall used to be and there, instead of the crack or the empty wall was a slot with a woman's face in it. She looked cruel and mean, made even more so by the silver eye patch that she wore over her right eye. "No," she was saying in a lazy almost amused voice. "I think she was dreaming…" there was a muffled response from beyond the woman, and the woman laughed. "Yes, nightmare is more like it."

With that being said the woman stood back and the slot slid close with a harsh metallic ring. Amy blinked a couple of times in the darkness, wondering if she had indeed seen what she thought that she had just seen. _I'm still dreaming, _she told herself as she settled back down beside the Doctor. _I'm still dreaming. If I close my eyes, I'll wake up in the real world. _

And so Amy found herself closing her eyes and when she opened them again it was morning. She rose, the strange nightmare and the lady in the slot half forgotten and written off as a dream. Amy saw that the Doctor was no where to be found and when she made her way downstairs she found that her father was also missing.

"Morning sweetheart," her mother greeted, handing her a cup of tea as she sat down.

"Morning Mum," Amy replied as she took a sip of the tea. "You haven't seen the Doctor anywhere, have you?"

"Oh he's around somewhere," Tabatha answered.

"And Dad?" Amy asked again.

"Oh he's with the Doctor,"

Amy looked up in surprise. "He is?"

"Yes," she replied. "They said something about seeing the races or some such nonsense. I don't really understand what they were talking about considering there were heading into that infernal blue box of yours and—"

Before her mother could say another word Amy was up on her feet and running towards where the Doctor had parked the TARDIS and sure enough, just as Amy feared it was gone. She made her way back into the kitchen feeling rather depressed. "They've gone without me."

"Well I know dear," her mother answered. "That's what I said isn't it?"

"Yes of course," Amy agreed. "But they've gone somewhere in the TARDIS, which means that they're having an adventure and I'm stuck at home."

"Oh I'm sure there's nothing all that adventurous about the races."

"Mum you don't understand," Amy protested. "The Doctor just doesn't "go to the races" like any old bloke. If him and Dad have gone to watch racing then it's probably in Ancient Rome, or on the Eighteenth Precinct of Kalapalam or some such alien place. They could be anywhere in time and space and I'm stuck here."

"But you and I can have a nice chat and…"

"It's not fair," Amy complained. "I'm not even sure yet and he's already leaving me behind."

"Sure?" asked her mother. "Sure about what."

Amy gulped, not sure how she was going to bring it up, but apparently the look on her face was enough because instantly her mother was sitting beside her looking very excited. "Oh Amelia," she began quietly. "Are you pregnant?"

Amy nodded and shrugged at the same time. She was nervous and scared, something that her mother understood all too well. "Well come on then," Tabatha stated taking her daughter by the hand. "If you think that you're pregnant then there's only one way to find out."

Together, after getting ready of course, Tabatha and Amy went down to the local pharmacy and bought a pregnancy test. Tabatha had rung it though and when the young cashier looked at it she seemed quite surprised. "You're never too old for children you know," Tabatha snapped as she snatched the test from the young girl's hand. And without another word the two Pond ladies excited the shop and made their way back home.

Once there, Amy thanked her mother for being so discrete and her mother hushed her up and told Amy to go into the washroom at once. Several minutes later, Amy re-emerged looking sad and relieved all at the same time. "I take it that you're—"

"Not pregnant," Amy confirmed as she showed her mother the test. "I thought I was,"

"But you're not," Tabatha finished. "How does that make you feel?"

Amy shrugged. "I wanted to be, but I was so scared to be…"

"There'll be other chances," her mother assured as she tossed the test in the trash.

Amy nodded and at that moment they both heard the whirring sound of the TARDIS. Amy instantly fled from the house out the back door and saw the TARDIS rematerializing on her parent's lawn. The double doors opened to reveal the Doctor and her father both in Roman togas. Her father was clearly drunk and both he and the Doctor were laughing like mad men.

"Augusta Pond," Tabatha chastised. "What have you done?"

"Been bonding with me son in law I have," Augusta answered between the hiccups.

"Went to ancient Rome," the Doctor added proudly. "Saw the Coliseum."

"It looks rubbish now," Augusta rambled. "Let me tell you. Seeing it during the opening games… the emperor himself shook my hand!"

Tabatha shook her head and ushered Augusta back into his home. "You," she added as she pointed to the Doctor. "Are in trouble."

"Yes," Amy agreed. "Big trouble."

"Ah leave 'im alone," came a slurred voice. Amy looked beyond the Doctor and saw Rory standing there. "He's good fun. We had a lot of fun."

"Yes," the Doctor agreed. "We did."

Amy was fuming when she heard the back door closing again. "Your father's passed out on the couch, I'm never going to get him upstairs."

"Mum I'm so sorry for this," she apologized. "I think that we best be off."

Tabatha shook her head but Amy was insistent.

"Very well sweetheart," she sighed. "If you must."

"We'll visit soon," the Doctor promised.

"I'm sure you will," Tabatha said. "Now come along Rory, let's get you home."

Rory shook his head. "I want to see more."

"More?" asked the Doctor and Amy in tandem.

Rory nodded. "I thought that this life wasn't for me, but it is. I want to stay."

"No," Amy said as she took Rory by the hand and led him out of the TARDIS. "You're only saying that because your drunk, aren't you?"

"Um…." Rory began, looking around, trying to figure out what he was feeling. "Yeah," he said at last. "Totally rubbish. Not meant for me, not at all."

"Come along Pond," the Doctor said as he took his wife by the hand.

"We'll see you soon Mum," she promised. "Love you."

"Love you too sweetheart,"

And with those sentiments shared, the TARDIS doors closed and Tabatha and Rory watched as the blue box vanished from sight.

TBC


	23. Soul in the Machine

DISCLAIMER: "Doctor Who" belongs to the BBC and their writers. I am getting no financial reward from this; I am merely borrowing the premise and characters for my own enjoyment and yours too hopefully.

Author's Note: Okay, I lied. I had to put the whole concept of the TARDIS having a soul in here… but not in the way that people expect. *evil grin* Please take the time to review this little chapter when you're done reading it, I do so love to know what ya'll think of it.

**Chapter Twenty-Three: ****Soul of the Machine **

"I'm going to kill him," Amy grumbled as she wandered down the seemingly endless corridors of the TARDIS. "Husband or not, I'm seriously going to kill him." After saying goodbye to her mother and Rory the Doctor had sent the TARDIS spinning off into the vortex for some down time, something about a temporal shift-thingy that was tracking them from the Roman era, Amy hadn't been listening— and when she had complained about how bored she was going to be the Doctor had suggested that they play hide and seek.

"It's the perfect game to play in the TARDIS," he had assured. "The corridors keeps changing on you, never know where you're going to end up."

"And if I get lost?" she had asked.

The Doctor scoffed. "Pish-Tosh, the TARDIS and I would never let you get lost," he had promised, giving Amy a soul-searing kiss as though to prove his words. And so Amy had agreed, but lost was exactly what had happened to her. She felt as though she had been wandering around the corridors for hours and she wanted nothing more than to see the Doctor again.

"Okay TARDIS," she called out at last. "The Doctor said that you'd never let me get lost, so how about you show me how to get back to the control room 'kay?" Amy waited for a couple of seconds, not actually believing for a moment that the TARDIS would reply, but then when the walls around her began to hum, Amy wondered whether or not her request was being granted.

She followed the humming sound diligently. When it got fainter she assumed that she was going in the wrong direction and as it got louder, Amy assumed that she was going in the right direction. After who knows how long of travelling via listening to the hums of the TARDIS Amy came out in a room that had a choral backdrop.

"Well hello there," she whistled as she looked around. "The Doctor's been redecorating has he?" As Amy looked around the room she realized that she was indeed in the console room but when she went to look out the doors to see if she could see into the vortex, she was disappointed to realized that there was nothing there but another corridor.

"Alright then," she grumbled. "Not the console room."

Amy pouted and turned away, determined to find her way back to her Doctor on her own, but as soon as she had, the console in the centre had begun to glow. Amy's gut reaction was to stay away from it, but her curiosity was too overwhelming and so she started moving forward, almost of her feet's own accord.

The glowing seemed to be centralized behind one panel and before she knew what she was doing, Amy had yanked it open and was staring into a golden light. The light poured through her and Amy felt as though all her nerve endings were on fire. She felt as though she was dying and she wondered if that high pitched sound was her own scream.

Vaugely she was aware of someone calling her name, and then the panel was snapped shut. Without the light, Amy felt as though she had no strength and she collapsed to the ground.

.

The Doctor had gotten sick of waiting for Amy and so he had gone off in search for her. The TARDIS wasn't making it easy for him to find his wife, and it was only when he heard Amy screaming that he began to panic. The TARDIS was full of things that he didn't want her to see, usually when they went exploring he had gone with her but he figured that nothing could go wrong— oh how wrong the Doctor was.

By the time he found Amy in the 'coral console room' he didn't even have time to process how the room could possibly still be in the TARDIS, the Doctor was far too concerned with what was happening to Amy. She was staring into the soul of the TARIDS, the untempered schism, just as Rose had done. However, the Doctor was around to stop it this time and he slammed the panel shut.

As soon as he had done that, Amy collapsed to the ground and it was all the Doctor could do to catch her as she fell. "Oh Amy," he stated worriedly as he stroked her face, trying to rouse her back to consciousness. "Speak to me Amy."

Amy's mouth fell open, and a whisp of golden energy poured out.

"No, no…" the Doctor cursed as he held Amy tighter. "Don't do this to me."

With no response from Amy, the Doctor knew what he had to do. It was the only thing that he could do. He had to kiss Amy and take the energy out of her, just as he had done with Rose, but just as he was leaning down, Amy suddenly gasped and the Doctor found himself holding her tightly.

"Oh Amy, Amy…" he whispered as he nuzzled into her hair.

But the nuzzling didn't last long because Amy wrestled herself out of his grasp and scuttled across the floor till she ran into one of the choral pillars. Before the Doctor could say anything, she was sitting in the small opening and staring down at him.

"Amy?" he asked, cautiously standing up and looking at his wife.

"Thief," she hissed as she stood up so that she was looking down at him.

"Sorry?" he asked again, taking a step closer.

"Thief," Amy repeated, sounding almost excited now. "You're my thief!"

The Doctor looked at Amy with a quizzical look on his face. "Thief?"

"Look at you?" she cooed as she jumped down from her perch.

"Amy," the Doctor asked as he watched his wife circle him. "You okay?"

"Look at you! Goodbye!" she paused and shook her head. "No, not goodbye. What's the other one?"

The Doctor opened his mouth to answer, but before her could, Amy was upon him with a passionate kiss. Normally the Doctor would have welcomed such attention from his wife, but clearly something was wrong and he was determined to find out what it was.

"Amy," he began as he pulled away from her. "What have I stolen."

"Why me of course," she answered with a giggle. The Doctor's hearts plummeted at this. He had always felt a little guilty from taking Amy away from Rory. Deep down he felt like she belonged with him, despite the fact that she had repeatedly proven him otherwise and to hear Amy say it out loud nearly broke him.

"You're going to steal me. No," she paused. "You have stolen me. No. You are stealing me…" Amy paused and giggled again. "Tenses, are difficult aren't they?"

"You're not Amy are you?" the Doctor asked, finally catching on.

"Your chin," Amy said with a laugh as she pinched it. "It's hilarious!"

"Amy," the Doctor said cautiously. "I think you should rest now."

Amy looked at him with wide now unfamiliar eyes and nodded. "Yes, good idea. Let me see if there's an off switch."

Then, before the Doctor could say anything, Amy fainted before his eyes.

The Doctor decided that he had had enough. First thing he did was pick Amy up and take her to the proper console room. He had planned on scanning her, however when he got to his console room he saw that it was dead.

"Oh not good…" he murmured as he placed his wife gently on the ground. "Not good at all…" he paused his ramblings and started moving around the console, trying to reboot the TARDIS but when nothing he did worked he realized that the TARDIS was dead. Its soul was gone and he had a sneaking suspicion where it had gone.

.

The Doctor stood vigil over his wife. He had taken her to a spare room that the TARDIS held, not their own. If the thing that had changed Amy was what the Doctor thought it was, he really didn't want it in their bedroom. More than that, the Doctor knew that because they were dead in the vortex, he only had a limited time to get the problem solved. Having no power in the vortex was a really dangerous thing, if the Doctor didn't get the TARDIS back up and running soon, he ran the risk of the time eddies tearing the now empty shell apart, killing all inside.

Suddenly the Doctor heard movement. He looked down and saw that Amy was awakening. She opened her eyes and looked up at him. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

"I'm, I'm…" Amy paused and looked around the room. "Big word," she mumbled. "Sad word. Why is that word so sad?"

"What word?" the Doctor asked.

"No it will be sad," she replied. "Will be sad."

The Doctor shook his head. "What will be sad."

"Oh!" Amy exclaimed suddenly as she sat up on the bed, her feet resting against the floor. "What was that? Like a nine year old trying to rebuild a motorbike. What am I saying? Why am I saying that?"

The Doctor shrugged. "You tell me."

Amy glared at him. "Thief," she stated again. "You're my thief."

"Who are you?" the Doctor asked.

"Don't you know me?" she asked back.

"When I look at you, you look like my Amy," the Doctor replied, trying to keep his voice steady and even. "You look like my wife… but you do not sound like her. So I ask again. Who are you?"

"You're right," she whispered. "I'm not the shell. I've just been trapped in here. I'm the… oh, what do you call me? We travel… and I go…." Amy paused and opened her mouth, causing the sound of the TARDIS to come out.

"The TARDIS," the Doctor breathed, getting confirmation at last.

"Time and relative dimension in space," she repeated. "Yes that's it. Names are funny. It's me!" she exclaimed leaning forward. "I'm the TARDIS."

"But how?" the Doctor asked. "The TARDIS is up and downy stuff in this mad blue box."

"Yes," Amy agreed. "That's me. A type forty TARDIS," she paused and grinned at the Doctor. "I was already a museum piece when you were young, and the first time you touched my console you said that I was the most beautiful thing I had ever known."

"I said that you were the most beautiful thing I had ever known," the Doctor stated in tandem with the TARDIS.

"And then you stole me," Amy finished. "And I stole you."

The Doctor stood up and turned his back to her. "I borrowed you."

"Ha!" Amy, or rather the TARDIS exclaimed with a smile as she stood up. "Borrowing implies the eventual intention to return the thing that was taken. What makes you think that I would ever give you back?"

The Doctor turned around, and felt utterly confused. "My TARDIS."

"My Doctor," she whispered, reaching out as though to caress his face. But as soon as she was within a hair's breath she pulled back and started walking. "We've now reached the point in our conversation where we go back to the control room."

The Doctor watched as the TARDIS in Amy's body walked out of the room and he knew that he had no choice but to follow.

"Are all people like this?" she asked as they walked down the darkened corridors, the Doctor's sonic lighting the way.

"Like what?" he asked.

"Bigger on the inside," she answered. "I'm, oh what's that word. It's so big, so complicated and so sad."

"But how did this happen?" asked the Doctor. "How did the living soul of the TARDIS get inside my wife?"

"Strange things are happening," the TARDIS told him in Amy's Scottish accent. "There are cracks in time. Someone tried to blow me up."

"So are you saying that this is a result of the cracks?" the Doctor asked. "Because even though you were blown up at one point you're not now. We were both erased from existence and my wife put an end to that."

"Wife?" the TARDIS asked as she and the Doctor entered the console room. "Since when does my Doctor have a wife."

The Doctor scowled. "The only one that gets to call me 'my Doctor' is my wife."

The TARDIS's eyes, so different form Amy's eyes sparked. "She's jealous."

"She?" he asked, stopping at the edge of the room. "She's still in there?"

"Course she is," the TARDIS answered. "Locked inside. Safe and sound."

"Amy," the Doctor began as he raced towards the TARDIS and looked into her eyes. "Amy if you can hear me I'm doing everything to fix this, but you've got to hold on alright? I've got a plan."

"Do you really?" the TARDIS asked, sounding amused. "You don't usually."

The Doctor opened his mouth to answer her with his plan, but realized that not only didn't he have a plan, but he didn't have a semblance of a plan, he didn't even have an inkling of a plan and that was new for him. "I don't know what to do…" he whispered, taking a halting step back. "That's a new feeling."

"Course it is thief," the TARDIS replied with a smile before her face clouded over with pain. "Ow," she stated as she held her said. "Roughly how long do these bodies last?"

Fear and panic suddenly coursed through the Doctor as he ran his sonic up and down Amy / the TARDIS's body. "You're dying," he whispered, feeling as though his world was falling apart. "Amy is dying."

"Yes of course I'm dying," the TARDIS said in a matter of fact tone. "I don't belong in a flesh body, even one that grew up beside a time crack. I could blow the casing in no time…" she paused and looked at the Doctor. She could see the emotion building within him. She could see the battle raging and she truly felt sorry for him. "No," she insisted softly as she placed her hands on either side of his face. "Don't get emotional. That's what this shell says. You're the Doctor, now focus."

The Doctor shook his head. "She's not a shell."

"Sorry?" the TARDIS asked.

"The body that you're in, she isn't a shell," he repeated. "She's my wife."

The TARDIS shook her head. "Well I know that."

"Then tell me how I can get you out of her and back into the box."

"Well you're going to have to do something completely brilliant, that you haven't even thought of yet," the TARDIS said with a smile for as soon as the sentence had left her lips the Doctor's eyes lit up.

"She looked into your heart," he muttered aloud. "She wasn't supposed to do that."

"Yes she was," the TARDIS corrected. "This always was supposed to happen."

"Yeah but what now?" the Doctor asked. "What now?"

The Doctor paced around the TARDIS and the dead console searching for an answer. It was only when the TARDIS shell gave a sudden jolt that he realize how time was of the utmost importance.

"Okay, we need to get to the heart of the TARDIS," the Doctor stated as he took her by the hand. "Let's go.. er, sorry do you have a name."

"Seven hundred years, finally he asks," the TARDIS muttered.

"What do I call you?"

"I think," she began hesitatingly. "I think you call me sexy,"

The Doctor blushed. "Only when we're alone."

"We are alone," she whispered back. "Relatively speaking," she added looking up as to indicate about Amy's presence in her mind. "Though she's practically gone now."

"Gone?" the Doctor asked. "Gone where?"

"Well I'm in her, so she's…"

"In you," the Doctor looked around and realized that Amy's consciousness was seeping into the TARDIS. "Let's go Sexy. We've got to save you both."

.

The heart of the TARDIS was a room that the Doctor hardly ever went to. It was time sensitive and very dangerous. It was underneath the console room and it was where the Doctor would be able to transfer the consciousness's back. He worked around the base of the heart, muttering frantically to himself and causing sparks to fly. The TARDIS was trying to give him imput and the Doctor was not hearing any of it.

"Yes, yes." He said. "I have actually rebuilt a TARDIS before."

"You're like a nine year old trying to rebuild a motorbike in his bedroom and you never read the instructions."

"I always read the instructions," the Doctor insisted.

The TARDIS let out a laugh. "There's a sign on my front door. You have been walking past it for seven hundred years. What does it say?"

"That's not instructions," he insisted, looking up from the work that he was doing.

"There's an instruction at the bottom," the TARDIS pointed out. "What does it say?"

The Doctor scowled. "Pull to open."

"So you can read," the TARDIS jabbed. "What do you do?"

The Doctor groaned. "I push."

"Every single time," the TARDIS complained. "Seven hundred years. Police Box doors open outwards."

The Doctor disentangled himself from the mass of wires and stood nose to nose with the TARDIS in Amy's body. "I think I've earned the right to open my front doors anyway I want!"

"Your front doors?" the TARDIS asked. "Have you any idea how childish that sounds."

"You are not my mother," the Doctor muttered sitting back down.

"And you are not my child," she snapped.

"You know," he continued as he stood up again. "Since we're talking with mouths, not really an opportunity that comes along very often, I just want to say, you know, you.." he paused and pointed right at the TARDIS's face. "You have never been very reliable.

"And you have?"

"You don't always take me where I want to go."

"No," the TARDIS agreed, her voice sounding almost hurt. "But I've always taken you where you've needed to go. I took you to Amy didn't I?"

The Doctor paused and looked up at her. "You did," he paused and broke out into a smile. "Look at us, talking. Wouldn't it be great if we could always talk? Even when you're inside the box, and Amy's back to normal?"

"You know I'm not constructed that way," she pouted. "I exist across all space and time, and you talk and run around and bring home strays…and then marry one."

The TARDIS swayed and then fell forward, but the Doctor was there to catch. "What's wrong?" he asked worriedly.

"This body is failing, quickly. Is the transference mechanism finished?"

"Practically but its still super dangerous." And as though to agree with him, the transference headband sparked in agreement. They were connected to the roof of the TARDIS and drawing energy from the vortex. It was the only way to get the conscious minds back to where they belonged and the Doctor was worried about what it might do to both Amy and the soul of the TARDIS.

"Danger is always a part of this life," the TARDIS answered him. "Do you ever wonder," she continued. "Why I chose you all those years ago?"

"I chose you. You were unlocked."

The TARDIS shook her head. "Course I was. I wanted to see the universe, so I stole a Time Lord and I ran away. And you were the only one mad enough."

The Doctor shook his head. "I'm not mad."

The TARDIS gave him a weak smile. "Yes you are, and you'll become even more so…" she paused and gave a shudder. It was the signal that the Doctor needed. It was now or never. He led her over to the headband and placed it around her head.

"If this doesn't work, I just wanted to say…"

"Don't say anything," she insisted, cutting him off. "Just do it."

The Doctor nodded and flipped the switch. Sparks flew everywhere but the mechanism sputtered and died.

"No!" he cried out, hitting the bundle of wires. "There's no power! I've got nothing."

"Oh my beautiful idiot," she said with a tear in her eye. "You have what you've always had, you've got me."

Before the Doctor could say anything, the TARDIS kissed her finger, imbuing it with her energy and placed it against the heart of the TARDIS. It suddenly whirred to life and the Doctor grinned at her. "Keep going! You're doing it you sexy thing."

"See," she pointed out with a grin. "You do call me that. Is it my name?"

"You bet it's your name," the Doctor said with a laugh. "Now keep going."

The TARDIS gave the Doctor a wistful look and leaned forward. Before the Doctor knew what was going on, he was kissing her and unlike before he found himself kissing her back until a brilliant flash of light blinded him and he found himself thrown.

.

When the Doctor awoke he was looking up at the glass ceiling of the console room with Amy laying on the glass above him. "Amy," he whispered as he scrambled to his feet. "Amy…" Within moments, the Doctor was at Amy's side, holding her and making sure that she was breathing. And then her eyes were open, staring up at him. There was no hint of the TARDIS. His Amy was back.

"Doctor," she whispered.

"Amy are you alright?"

Amy squeezed her eyes shut and brought her palms to them. "Headache."

The Doctor gave out a choked sob / laugh. "I'd bet."

"Doctor," came a disembodied voice that sounded like Amy's but not quite. "Doctor are you there?" The Doctor looked around and saw the glowing projection of the TARDIS in Amy's body floating there. "It's so very dark in here… I miss my eyes, or her eyes."

"I'm here," the Doctor whispered. "We both are."

"I've been looking for a word," she said as the Doctor and Amy stood up, her clinging onto him for all she could. "A big, complicated word. But so sad, I've found it now."

"What word?" he asked.

"Alive." The TARDIS whispered. "I'm so alive."

Amy blinked back tears she didn't even know were in her eyes. "Alive isn't sad."

"But it's sad now it's over," she answered. "I've always been here, I always will. But this is when we talked, and shared a body. That has come to an end and there is something that I didn't get to say to you… both of you."

"Goodbye?" the Doctor asked and Amy looked up at him and saw that there were tears in his eyes. A sharp stab of jealousy coursed through her but she knew that there was no real reason for her to feel jealous. The TARDIS was a soul in a machine; she was a soul in a body. The Doctor loved her. The Doctor married her. That was a colossal difference.

"No," the TARDIS corrected. "I just wanted to say… hello. Hello Doctor," she continued, her voice breaking with emotion. "It's so very, very nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," he choked out. "I wish you could stay."

The TARDIS gave him a sad smile. "You've got something much more special than a type forty TARDIS," she whispered looking to Amy. "Amelia Pond, the girl who waited. Mad and Impossible though the story seems, with twists and turns you've yet to encounter. Stay true to your heart and soul and with a nimble mind you'll be able to do the impossible again."

Amy's brow furrowed. "What does that mean?"

But the TARDIS couldn't say any more. Her projection vanished, leaving the Doctor and Amy alone.

.

The first thing that the Doctor wanted to do was scan Amy, to make sure that she was alright— but instead he spent the better part of three hours putting a firewall around the matrix, the soul of the TARDIS while Amy watched. "Almost done?" she asked.

The Doctor nodded. "Just now."

"Are you going to make her talk again?" she asked, feeling jealous.

The Doctor shook his head. "No. I can't."

"Doctor…" Amy began her voice wavering. "I'm—"

"Alive," the Doctor interrupted as he took Amy into his arms. "The best thing there is. Being alive right now is all that counts, and she made sure that she left you before you were lost to me forever."

Amy buried her head into the Doctor's shoulder. "What do you think she meant?" she asked. "Do the impossible again?"

The Doctor just rubbed her back. "Don't worry about that," he insisted.

"But—"

"You are my mad impossible Amelia Pond," the Doctor whispered as he bought Amy's chin up so that he could look her in the eye. "And I love you."

"I love you too," she whispered back. "I love you too so much."

TBC


	24. In the Flesh

DISCLAIMER: "Doctor Who" belongs to the BBC and their writers. I am getting no financial reward from this; I am merely borrowing the premise and characters for my own enjoyment and yours too hopefully.

Author's Note: Huh, I just realized that if the TARDIS was in the ganger body, then the TARDIS would have probably said something. So I'm including a *flashback* scene where the Doctor and the TARDIS have an added conversation. Other that, holy flying cow wasn't "Let's Kill Hitler" amazing? :D I am so excited for the next episode! Tomorrow! Yay!

**Chapter Twenty-Four: ****In the Flesh **

The next order of business for the Doctor was to scan Amy. "I want to make sure that you're alright," he had told her as he had her sit quietly before the console. "Human's aren't meant to have the soul of the TARDIS in them. I'm sure that she wouldn't have meant to, but there could be some long lasting damage."

Amy's face paled at that.

"But don't worry," the Doctor assured as he started the scanning progress. "I'm sure that nothing is wrong. I'm just being super careful, you know what's that earth saying…"

"Better safe than sorry."

The Doctor grinned at her. "Right. Better safe than sorry." He then turned to the scanner to see what the TARDIS could find out and what he saw troubled him. At first the scanner registered Amy as being pregnant, but then it changed to her not being pregnant, and then it showed that she was pregnant again. Back and forth until the Doctor felt as though his head was going to spend.

"Everything alright there Doctor?" Amy asked, bringing him out of his shock.

"Uh yeah," he answered, trying to make his voice sound as relieved as possible as he turned off the scanner. "Right as rum."

Amy giggled and walked over to her husband. "That's right as rain."

The Doctor nodded. "Oh right….right as rain."

Amy kissed her husband tenderly on the cheek before yawning.

"Tired are you?" he asked, almost too eagerly.

Amy nodded, not paying attention to the tone in his voice. "If it's alright with you, I'm just going to crash for a little while."

"Well after what you've been through it sounds like a very good idea," the Doctor agreed as he ushered her to the stairs which would take her out of the console room. "You go sleep, I'm just going to work here and…"

"…try to improve some such gizmo or another," Amy interrupted with a smile. "I know how your mind works Doctor, you take all the time to need to fix your TARDIS."

"I'll be up in a bit."

Amy smiled before disappearing from view. As soon as she was gone, the Doctor turned back to the console with barely controlled panic. Amy was pregnant, but she wasn't. But if she was she would have said something and if she wasn't there would be no reason for her to say anything. The problem was that either way, the TARDIS should have been able to decide, one way or another if Amy was pregnant and the fact that it couldn't was worrying.

"_This is truly strange," the TARDIS had said as he continued to work on his plan "I feel as though I'm two people." _

"_Well you are two people technically," the Doctor had told her. "You're yourself, and you're in the body of my wife." _

_The TARDIS shook her head. "No, it's more than that. I'm here…. But it's almost as though I'm somewhere else as well." _

"_What do you mean?" the Doctor asked. _

_The TARDIS shrugged her shoulders. "What do I ever mean?" _

The Doctor shook his head and brought himself out of the memory. He should have known then that something was wrong, but as usual he missed the obvious and had gone full steam ahead on a plan. "Stupid," he muttered to himself as he whirled around the controls. "I'm stupid…" he paused and looked up at the console. "Okay old girl," he whispered fondly. "I know what you meant now, I've got to find Amy… can you take me to her?"

The TARDIS whirred in response and the Doctor knew that they were on their way. Just as the TARDIS clunked to a landing, the Doctor saw that Amy was entering the console room. "So where are we?" she asked.

"Feeling better?"

Amy nodded. "Loads thanks. So where are we?"

The Doctor looked at his scanner and then back at Amy. "No where," he insisted before going off on a tangent. "Well we're somewhere, we're always somewhere, but where we are right now is little consequence… I was thinking Amelia darling about letting you pick our next destination. Somewhere exciting? Somewhere new? Somewhere where you can do anything you want? Maybe drop you back off at home for a little while."

"Doctor," Amy interjected as she came to stand beside her husband. "What is it? Where are we now?"

"Somewhere that the TARDIS has decided that I need to be, but we don't have to stay here."

"Course we do," Amy insisted as she took the Doctor's hand. "You're not getting rid of me that easily. If there are people to save, and monsters to stop then I wouldn't miss it for the world."

The Doctor sighed and Amy knew that she got him. "Alright then."

"So where are we?" she asked again.

"Earth, sometime in the near future at and—" the Doctor's explanation was suddenly cut short when the klaxons began to blare and the TARDIS started to buck. Amy clung to the console as the Doctor worked around it.

"Bad," he muttered. "Very, very bad."

"What is it?" Amy asked, yelling over the noise. "What's wrong?"

"Solar tsunami," the Doctor explained. "Came directly from your sun, a tidal wave of radiation… big, big… very big."

"And that's bad?"

"Bad," the Doctor confirmed as he glanced at the scanner. "Alright Amy, brace for impact."

Both Amy and the Doctor held on tightly as the TARDIS crash landed upon the earth. As soon as the TARDIS stopped shuddering the Doctor gave Amy a sheepish smile. "Textbook landing, right?"

Amy just shook her head and stood up. "So let's go see where we are."

"Right," the Doctor agreed, somewhat reluctantly. "Off we go then."

The Doctor and Amy exited the TARDIS to see that they had landed outside a monastery, the Doctor muttered something about the cracks on the ground and Amy just marvelled at the beauty of the ancient architecture. "I'm glad it's still standing," she said with a smile.

"Yeah," the Doctor said as he took out a snow globe from his pocket.

"What is with that?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It's a detection device," the Doctor answered as he put it away.

"Looked like a snow globe to me,"

"Well it's both."

Amy shook her head. "How can it be both?"

"It just can," the Doctor answered rather sharply as his eyes wandered around. "Oh look, writing. Writing is interesting, what does it say?" he asked as he changed the subject, walking towards the pipe that he had seen. "Ah, corrosive," the Doctor continued as he scanned it. "A supply pipe. Ceramic inner lining, something very corrosive, they're pumping something nasty off this island all the way to the mainland."

"Shall we take a look then?" Amy asked. "Gotta be illegal whatever this is."

"Yes," the Doctor agreed. "Let's go, satisfy our rabid curiosity."

They walked for a little while until the Doctor stopped. "This is it,"

"It?" Amy asked. "You mean you know why we're here?"

"What?" the Doctor asked seeming distracted. "No of course not, but we're at a door and doors usually lead into things and into things is exactly what we're needing to be doing now so, allons-y…"

"Allons-y?" Amy asked with a laugh. "What happened to Geronimo?"

"Can't a Time Lord change things up?" the Doctor asked as he opened the door. He knew that he was being rather short with Amy but there was too much at stake. She wasn't who she said she was and the TARDIS brought him here to find a way to get his Amelia back. The problem was, the woman in front of him didn't know that she wasn't who she was supposed to be and the Doctor watched with some measure of guilt and an iota of realization as Amy responded exactly as she would have had she been who she really was supposed to be.

"No need to get snippy with me Doctor," she snapped right back. "I'm not sure what's gotten into you today, but if you can't say anything nice to me then I don't want you to say anything to me at all."

The Doctor decided to heed his wife's advice and stayed silent as they walked through the monastery. He was taking readings with his sonic and realized that whatever was going on in the monastery, they were pumping acid to the mainland. The Doctor was so busy trying to figure out what was going on when he nearly ran into Amy. She was standing in the entrance way to a large circular room which had people seemingly asleep within metal harnesses.

"What are these for?" Amy asked.

The Doctor who was still wary of saying something snippy, stayed silent.

"You can answer my question Doctor," Amy said after a minute. "What are they? Prisoners? Or are they meditating, or what?"

"They fall into the 'or what' category," the Doctor answered.

"Hey!" came a voice from across the room. "Stay right there."

"Who are you?" asked a woman.

"Stay back Jen, we don't know who they are."

"Let's ask them," she answered. "Who the hell are you?"

The Doctor stepped forward to stand next to Amy. "Hello. My name's the Doctor, this is my wife Amy and this is all fascinating isn't it?"

Amy looked from the man and the woman to the people in the harnesses and realized that something strange was going on. "Hold up, you're what, twins?"

Another man and another woman joined the first two and the second woman said; "This is an alpha-grade industrial facility. Unless you work for the military or for Morpeth Jetson, you're in big trouble."

"Actually," the Doctor began as he flashed her the psychic paper. "You're the one who's in trouble."

"You're with the meteorological department?" the woman asked. "What?"

"You were hit by a solar wave," the Doctor explained.

"Which we survived,"

"Barely," the Doctor continued. "And there's a bigger one on the way."

"Which we'll also survive."

"Maybe," the Doctor said in a low voice. "And maybe not. I need to see your critical systems. Now."

The woman shook her head. "I don't think so, you're trespassing."

"And I think that you have no idea what you're doing," the Doctor argued "So, I'm going to say this once more, and only once more. Take me to your critical systems."

The woman sighed, seeming defeated. "Which ones?"

The Doctor's eyes narrowed. "You know which ones."

…

"This is bad," the Doctor muttered as he walked around a large vat on a raised platform. There was a white bubbling liquid inside and he knew that whatever was going on at the monastery was not only really big and really dangerous but also had something to do with how the Amy that was with him wasn't really his Amy.

"What is this stuff?" Amy asked.

"The worst kept secret of the world— the flesh," the woman answered.

"What's the flesh?" Amy asked again.

"It's fully programmable matter. In fact, it's even learning to replicate itself at the cellular level."

Amy shook her head. "Right. Brilliant. Lost."

"Okay. Once a reading's been taken, we can manipulate its molecular structure into anything, replicate a living organism, down to the hairs on its chinny-chin-chin. Even clothes, and everything's identical — eyes, voice."

"Mind," the Doctor added. "Soul."

The woman shook her head. "Don't be fooled, Doctor. It acts like life, but it still needs to be controlled by us from those harnesses you saw."

"Wait," Amy interjected. "So you're the Flesh now?"

The woman nodded. "I'm lying in that harness back there."

"You said it can grow," the Doctor pointed out. "Only life grows."

"Moss grows. It's no more than that. This acid is so dangerous, we were losing a worker every week. So now, we mine the acid, using these doppelgangers, or "gangers." If these bodies get burnt or fall in the acid..."

"Then who the hell cares," asked the first man who had spoken to them. "Right?"

"Right," the other woman, Jennifer agreed.

Suddenly the Doctor let out a little yelp. His hand was in the vat, while everyone had been talking he had not only scanned the flesh but he had decided to touch it as well.

"Get back," the woman ordered. "Leave it alone."

"Ah!" the Doctor yelled as he pulled his hand away. Amy was instantly at his side, watching his wide eyes. "I understand."

"Undestand what?" Amy asked. "Are you alright?"

The Doctor nodded. "Better than alright. Incredible. You have no idea. I mean no idea. I felt it, I mean— in my mind. I reached out to it and it to me. It scanned me and then it reached out."

The skeptical woman shook her head. "Impossible."

"You're blind." The Doctor snapped. "It's alive. So alive and you're piling your lives, your personalities and your very souls into it…" the Doctor paused and pulled out his snow globe while the ground began to shake. "The solar storm, the waves are coming in pairs… it's close and we're in a lot of trouble."

"Doctor," Amy began. "If we're in trouble let's just leave?"

The Doctor nodded. "Right. We'll leave. You lot coming with us?"

"Buzz, have we heard from the mainland yet?" the woman asked.

"No," Buzz answered. "Communications are jammed with radiation."

"Then we keep pumping acid until we're told to stop."

The Doctor shook his head. "Don't say I didn't warn you, come along Pond."

"We can't just leave them."

"Right," the Doctor agreed as he walked towards the woman. "Alright people, you don't have a choice in the matter, you're coming with me. Solar storm and all that, very dangerous, very bad."

The woman, who was clearly in charge just stared at the Doctor. "Where would we go? The moon?"

"Been there," the Doctor replied cheekily. "But no. I've got a…ship. A nice big blue ship that'll take us somewhere safe."

The woman just shook her head. "No."

The Doctor grumbled and grabbed Amy's hand. "Right then. I tried."

"Try again."

The Doctor groaned and turned to the nearest flesh body. "Monitoring station?"

She, Jennifer— gave him a blank look.

"I need to check on the progress of the storm," the Doctor snapped. "Where is the monitoring station?"

"Three lefts, a right and a left. Third door on your left."

The Doctor nodded and left the room, with Amy right behind him.

"Doctor,"

"Not now Amy I'm trying to figure out if it's three lefts, a right and a left or three lefts, a left and a right."

"It's the first one," Amy answered with an exasperated sigh, just as they were coming to the third left.

"Thanks," the Doctor said with a smile as they took the next right.

"What's going on Doctor?"

"The wave is disturbing the magnetic field of the Earth. There is going to be the mother and father of all power surges. You see this weather vane, the cock-a-doodle-doo? It's a solar router, feeding the whole factory with solar power. When that wave hits, kaboom. I've got to get to that cockerel before all hell breaks loose."

The Doctor stopped in the doorway before them and chuckled. "I never thought I'd have to say that again."

They went through a doorway which led to a large tower. Amy watched as the Doctor climbed the ladder on the outside the tower. He seemed to stop about two thirds of the way up and began fiddling around with what she could only assume was a power box. Suddenly, lightning struck the tower, causing the Doctor to be flung down to the battlement.

"DOCTOR!" Amy cried out in horror as she rushed towards her husband, not caring if she got struck by lightning herself, but at that moment another flash of lightning clouded her vision and the next thing she knew she was being woken up by the Doctor.

"You're okay," she said feeling quite relieved.

"As are you," the Doctor said as he hoisted her to her feet.

"What about the rest?"

Amy and the Doctor arrived just in time to see Cleaves, one of the workmen and the boss of the facility, get up from the ground looking very befuddled himself. "Cleaves," the Doctor chastised as he helped the man up. "You're not in your harness."

"No," Cleaves replied. "And I'm sorry. You were right."

"There's no more power."

Cleaver nodded. "And I abandoned my team."

"Nothing wrong with that," the Doctor assured. "So long as we go back to get 'em."

Amy, the Doctor and Cleaves walked through the monastery searching for the others. "How long would you say that we've been unconscious, Cleaves?" the Doctor asked.

Cleaves just shrugged. "Not long. A minute, two minutes tops."

The Doctor shook his head. "Bet that it's been more than that."

"How long then Doctor?" Amy asked from her husbands right-hand side.

"An hour at the least," the Doctor answered. "I've seen whole worlds turned inside out in an hour. A lot can go wrong in an hour, and it can take a whole lot longer than an hour to set things straight again…"

They kept on walking and made it to the harness room just in time to see that the others were helping each other out of their harnesses. "Doctor these are the real people," Amy pointed out as she went over to see Jennifer who seemed to be the most in pain. "If these are the real people, then where are their gangers?"

"Don't worry," Cleaves assured. "When the link shuts down, the Gangers return to pure flesh. Now, the storm's left us with acid leaks all over, so we need to contact the mainland. They can have a rescue shuttle out here in no time."

But at that moment, music began playing.

"That's my record," said Jimmy. "Who's playing my record?"

"Your Gangners," the Doctor answered with a sigh. "They've gone walkabout."

"Walkabout?" asked Amy.

"That's impossible," Cleaves argued. "They're not active — cars don't fly themselves, cranes don't lift themselves, and gangers don't…"

"Ah," the Doctor interjected. "But they do."

The team raced towards the sound of the music leaving the Doctor and Amy to follow. They came to the dining hall, which looked as though a tornado had swept through it. Things were everywhere, nothing was in it's place, the only life in the room was the music— haunting as it was.

While the boys were arguing over how this wasn't possible, the Doctor just watched them, carefully. "It would seem as though the storm has animated your gangers and allowed them to search though their stuff."

"Our stuff," Cleaves argued.

"Their stuff," the Doctor argued back.

"Stolen," Jimmy added.

"Bequeathed," the Doctor corrected as he watched Cleaves pick up a plate. **"**You gave them this. You poured in your personalities, emotions, traits, memories, secrets — everything. You gave them your lives. Human lives are amazing. Are you surprised they walked off with them? And don't you know that that's hot?"

Cleaves looked at her hand and let the plate drop.

"The transmatter is still a little rubbery," the Doctor said with a rather amused smile. "The nerve endings haven't fused properly."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Cleaves asked.

"What happened to the real Cleaves?" Jimmy shouted.

"Hush," the Doctor ordered as the Cleaves before them began to morph. "She's bound to be fine. "This is early flesh, the early stages of the technology. So much for them to learn."

"What's happening?" Amy asked in a quiet voice.

"She can't stabilize," the Doctor answered. "She's shifting between half-formed and full-formed, for now at least."

Cleaves, or her ganger version growled, "We are living," before racing off.

"Right then," the Doctor said as he watched her go. "Better see what she's up to."

The Doctor took off with Amy and the others close behind. They seemed to be keeping up with the ganger version of Cleaves, until a clear ganger version of Jennifer got in their way. She was tall and grotesque and clearly very scared. Jimmy pulled a gun out from nowhere and fired at a pipe on the ceiling. Acid erupted from the whole, pouring down onto the ganger Jennifer. She screamed in agony as she disintegrated while the Doctor ushered them all into a side room.

"Quickly," he said. "Before the acid gets us."

The moment they were all in, he shut the door and rounded on Jimmy.

"How could you?" he asked. "You killed one of them."

"It was kill or be killed," Jimmy answered. "What else could I do?"

"You could have let it be," Amy said, for as scared as she was she knew that killing the creature / ganger wasn't the right thing to do.

"I had a chance here," the Doctor said angrily. "A chance. You've ruined it."

"A chance to do what?" asked Buzzer.

"You did say that," Jimmy pointed out.

"Doctor,"

"Not now Amy," he snapped as he tried to think.

"But Doctor," she said again. "I'm scared."

"Correct Pond," came the Doctor's voice, but wasn't coming from the Doctor. "And you should be scared. This is frightening, unexpected and frankly a total, utter splattering mess on the carpet. But I'm certain, one-hundred percent certain that we can work this out."

Amy looked as the Doctor turned around to face, himself with a half formed face.

"Hello," the ganger said with a smile. "I'm the Doctor. And I can fix this."

TBC


	25. His Darkest Hour

DISCLAIMER: "Doctor Who" belongs to the BBC and their writers. I am getting no financial reward from this; I am merely borrowing the premise and characters for my own enjoyment and yours too hopefully.

_Author's Note: Okay, so a little disappointed with "Night Terrors" if I'm being honest. Too much set up, not enough action… I like when my Who stories get going right away, like "Let's Kill Hitler" but oh well. It was still super good and next week "The Girl Who Waited" looks super interesting, and poor Amy!__ Anyways here's my continuation. Hope you all like it and the changes that I made…_

**Chapter Twenty-Five: His Darkest Hour **

"Hello," the ganger said with a smile. "I'm the Doctor and I can fix this."

But as soon as the words were out of his mouth, the ganger Doctor suddenly seemed to go all crazy. "What's happening?" he asked as he began to morph. "I wonder if we'll get back. Yes, one day… Aaagh!" he cried out in agony. "I've reversed the polarity of the neutron flow."

"What's happening?" Amy asked, terrified.

"The Flesh is struggling to cope with our past regenerations."

"Would you like a jelly-baby?" the ganger asked as his face morphed into something that was not the Doctor. "Excellent. Allons-y…" he continued, his face changing a couple more times but only slightly. "No!" he told himself sternly. "Let them go. We've moved on."

"Hold on," the Doctor pleaded. "You can fix this."

"I'm the Doctor," the ganger told himself. "I'm the Doctor."

"Yes you are," the Doctor insisted. "Now focus."

While the Doctor urged himself to coalesce, Amy watched as the others barricaded themselves in. Then suddenly there was a laugh from behind her and Amy turned around to see two Doctors circling each other.

"Hello!" one greeted.

"Hi," the other greeted more warily. "Cybermats."

"Sorry?"

"Cybermats," he repeated, and Amy guessed that that was her Doctor.

"Do we have time for this?"

"We make time for this," the Doctor insisted. "I want proof that you're me."

"Course I'm me," the ganger insisted.

"But Cybermats?"

"Created by the Cybermen," the ganger answered. "They kill by feeding off the brainwaves of humans and other similar creatures."

"Okay but what about the Daleks?"

The ganger Doctor gave a shudder. "Hate the Daleks, and we don't hate anyone really. Met them ages ago, back when I was young. Susan was with us. Ian and Barbara too."

"And the last time?" the Doctor asked.

"World War Two," the ganger answered. "Churchill. They got away, again."

"Fascinating,"

"Really fascinating," his ganger agreed.

"It's like two bodies," the real Doctor began

"But one mind," the ganger added as they circled each other.

"Or two minds," the Doctor continued.

"Thinking and—"

"—and talking as one."

"Exactly," the ganger finished proudly as he solidified.

"Hey!" Amy exclaimed stepping in between the two of them.

Both of them looked at Amy with the same perplexed expression.

"Which one of you is my husband?"

"I am," they both said at the same time.

Amy shook her head. "No, see one of you is and one of you is not."

"But we're the same,"

"Same hearts,"

"Same soul,"

"Same love for you,"

"No," Amy insisted. "One's flesh and the other is… FLESH."

"Does that make a difference?" asked one Doctor.

"Right," said the other, Amy couldn't tell the difference. "Does it?"

"Course it does," Amy insisted.

Both Doctors just looked at her surprised. "You're discriminating."

"Am not," she insisted. "I'm just stating what's true and what's…not."

"Well you could have fooled me," said one Doctor gloomily.

"Please understand," she pleaded looking from one the other. "I've been on hundreds of adventures with one of you. With one of you I've had the best time of my life and…married," Amy paused and shook her head. "With the other I haven't. So please, just stop being stupid and tell me which one of you is the ganger and which one of you is my Doctor. With all the moving around you did and all the fast talking, I lost track."

"What?" asked one of the Doctor's somewhat surprised, "Can't tell us apart?"

"No," Amy admitted.

"Then what does it matter?" the other Doctor asked.

"It matters to me," Amy snapped, glaring at both of them.

The Doctors looked to one another, as if silently communicating. Not for the first time did Amy wish that she was inside her husband's head and not for the first time did she wish that things were simple. But things were never simple where the Doctor was concerned and she had known that from the start, and loved the Doctor for all his craziness.

Finally, one of them sighed. "It's me," he stated. "I'm the original."

Amy's face broke out into a grin and she snogged her husband. "Don't do that to me ever again, alright?"

"Alright," the Doctor promised as he held his wife.

"What?" asked the other Doctor.

'What, what?" asked Amy as she pulled away from her Doctor.

"No kiss for me?"

Amy looked uncomfortable. "Well, uh…no."

"And why not? Who's to say that he's not lying?"

Amy shot her Doctor a look. "Are you?"

"Course not," he promised.

"But I always lie," the other Doctor pointed out. "Rule one. You know that."

Amy took a step back. The Other Doctor, or the Real Doctor as he might have been was right. He did lie. So many times had she known that he lied to her whether on purpose or by accident. So many times had he not given her the full picture until it was nearly too late. So many times had her Doctor asked for her utmost trust, and there was so many times that Amy had had to give it.

"Amy," the first Doctor began quietly. "It's up to you."

"Me?" she asked.

"You're going to have to choose."

"Choose how?"

"Choose whom," the other Doctor corrected. "You've got to decide which one is me and which one is not."

"But I can't," Amy whispered as she stepped back from the two of them.

"You're going to have to try," the first Doctor pleaded.

Amy took a deep breath and started at the two Doctors. They seemed to be the same. They looked the same, they were dressed the same, they acted the same, they talked the same and most importantly of all they both looked at her with the same eyes— those very old eyes which had seen so much and yet looked at her as though she was the most important thing in the world. Amy tried to distinguish which one was the ganger and which one was not and found that she couldn't do it. So she had to go with her gut. And she picked the Doctor who had said that he was the real on in the first place.

"It's you," she said. "Definitely you."

"Excuse me," interrupted Cleaves. "But now that we've got that settled, we do have a problem here."

"Right," the Doctor that Amy had chosen said as he rubbed his hands together. "We do have a problem here."

"And we're going to have to solve it," the other Doctor added.

"Yes we will and you know what they say,"

"Two heads are better than one,"

"You're thinking what I'm thinking," her Doctor asked

"Course I am," the ganger promised.

"Glad we're on the same page."

"Same page is good," the ganger agreed. "Great minds and all."

"Exactly," the Doctor agreed.

"So the plan?" asked the Ganger. "Save all of them? Humans and Gangers."

"Sounds wonderful."

"Isn't that what you're thinking?"

"It is," the Doctor assured. "But it's so inspiring to hear me say it."

The ganger grinned. "I know!"

"Acid!" Jimmy called out, backing away from the door. "They're eating through."

"It's alright," the Ganger promised. "We're going to get you off this island."

"And the Gangers too," the Doctor added.

"Sorry," Cleaves apologized. "But they're trying to kill us."

"They're sacred," the Doctor pointed out.

"And you drew the first blood… or er, flesh."

"We're trapped in here Doctor," Amy pointed out.

"No," he assured. "There's always a way out."

"We just have to find it," the Ganger added.

"The flesh bowl is fed by cabbling,"

"And there must be earth works somewhere…"

"All this piping must go down into a tunnel or shaft or something."

Both Doctor's scanned the room.

"Here!" the ganger called out and while he was taking off a grate, Amy took the opportunity to distinguish them from each other so she took off the other Doctor's bow-tie.

"Hey," he protested.

"Sorry," she apologized as she stuffed the tie in her pocked.

"What was that for?"

"I want to be able to tell you both apart," Amy answered honestly.

"But I thought you could tell," the other one said bitterly.

"I can tell," Amy defended. "But I've got to make sure that if things go wrong, and they generally usually go wrong, well I need to make sure that I can tell the difference between the two of you in a pinch."

"But my bow-tie…" her Doctor complained.

"Silly you'll get it back," she promised. "When we're out of here."

"Which is now," the Ganger stated as the grate was pulled loose. "Yowza that's a small escape route," he added.

"You know I'm starting to get a sense of just how impressive it is to hang out with me," the bow-tie less Doctor said as he joined his ganger.

"Do we tend to say Yowza?" the other Doctor asked.

The Doctor shook his head. "Not anymore. Let's go eh?"

The two Doctors, Amy and the Originals made their way through the grate until they came to a tunnel. Once there they found it increasingly hard to breathe.

"Acid," the Doctor choked. "Interacting with the stone."

"Creating an asphyxiant miasma," the Ganger added.

"What?" asked Amy.

"Chokey gas," the Ganger explained. "If we can get about it."

"Evac tower," Cleaves choked out. "This way."

…

When they got to the tower, the two Doctors set about trying to restore the power. "Can you get the power back on?" Cleaves asked as the two Doctor kept disappearing behind the terminal. They kept switching positions too and Amy was glad that she had taken the time to take one bow-tie so that she could tell them apart.

"There's always some power floating around," the ganger Doctor said.

"It's just a matter of getting it to the right place," the Doctor added.

"Stop finishing each other's sentences," Amy asked. "It's creepy."

"Not creepy," the Doctor assured.

"But how are you doing it?"

"I'm the Doctor," the Doctor answered.

"So am I. We contain the knowledge of over 900 years of experience, we both wear the same bow-tie…" the ganger paused and saw that the other Doctor was not wearing a bow-tie because Amy had taken it off him. "Well usually because bow ties are,"

"And always will be," the Doctor continued.

"Cool." They both finished together.

"Does that satisfy you wife?"

"Told you," Amy snapped at the ganger. "I'm his wife."

The ganger Doctor shook his head. "You love him."

"Course I do."

"More than me."

"We've been over this," Amy reiterated. "Listen, I'm sorry but he's the Doctor. My Doctor. My husband. But, being almost the Doctor is pretty damn impressive."

The ganger shook his head. "Being almost the Doctor is like being no Doctor at all."

"Now don't say that," Amy pleaded feeling guilty.

"Communication a go!" the Doctor exclaimed with a smile. "Now you, I'm going to need your help. You take that terminal?"

"And you'll take that one," the other one agreed.

…

The two Doctors worked side by side until the ganger Doctor groaned. "Things are working but there's nothing but static."

"We need the thingy," Amy's Doctor said. "From the TARDIS."

"From the TARDIS," the ganger agreed.

"One of us is going to have to go to the TARDIS," her Doctor said.

"I'll go," the other one offered.

"Right and Amy'll go with you."

"Excuse me?" she whispered as the other Doctor headed for the door.

"I want you to keep an eye on him," her Doctor hissed quietly.

"Don't you trust him?" she asked.

"You don't."

"True," she agreed somewhat guiltily. "But you said that he's you."

"But he's not me," the Doctor insisted. "Don't you see? Someone's got to keep an eye on him."

"And you want that to be me?"

"Amy?" the other Doctor called out. "Coast is clear."

"Go," her Doctor prompted.

"Right," she agreed, kissing him on the cheek. "Later?"

The Doctor nodded. "Later."

…

Amy and the Ganger Doctor walked in silence down the hallways. She held a flashlight in her hand while the Doctor held out his sonic. The silence between them was uncomfortable and so unlike the silences that she often enjoyed with her own Doctor. Finally, the silence felt as though it was suffocating her, so Amy plucked up her courage and spoke. "Listen, I just wanted to say sorry."

"For what?" the ganger Doctor asked disinterestedly.

"For you know… picking the other Doctor."

"Oh so he's the other Doctor now."

Amy's brow furrowed. "You know what I mean."

"Right," the other Doctor snapped. "Course I do. And what do you mean after all? Did you mean that I'm nothing? Did you mean that I'm not real?"

"You're not… I never…" Amy sputtered in shock.

"But you did," he hissed, more angry than Amy had ever seen him before. It was an anger which scared her and made her more sure than ever that she had picked the right Doctor as her own. "And you're so wrong. I am something. I am real. I have thoughts and emotions. I can be happy or sad. I can laugh and I'm pretty sure that I can cry as well… Inside I cry for you Amy because you're so blind to the truth sometimes. I am him and he is me…" the Doctor walked away from her seeming to talk to the air now.

"Why does it always come down to this?" he asked in a rage. "Why do the people I care about never understand that when there's two of me, it's still me! Just being different doesn't make me different. Meta-crisis or otherwise."

"Wait a minute," Amy interjected. "Meta-what?"

"Don't you go asking questions," the Doctor ordered. "I'm ranting."

"But Doctor," she began without thinking.

"Ah!" he exclaimed accusingly. "See. I'm the Doctor."

"I suppose but…"

"But nothing!" he assured. "I'm the Doctor just as sure as Cleaves, Jimmy and Buzzer are themselves."

"You mean the ones who are flesh and bone."

"No I mean the ones that are FLESH," the other Doctor corrected.

"But they're copies."

"The solar storm gave the gangers all their thoughts and feelings and their very souls. You did that once with Rory. That plastic centurion might have been a fake but he certainly acted like your Rory."

"He's not my Rory," Amy snapped. "Not anymore. You know that."

"How can I?" the Doctor asked bitterly. "When I'm not me."

"But you could be you yeah?" Amy asked, suddenly realizing something. "Because if you're real, like you say you are then you can die. And I know that my husband… I know that he's going to die. But that might not be him right? That might have been you?"

"So eager for my death," the ganger snapped. With that said the other Doctor ran off, and Amy decided that it would be best to head back to the control room where her Doctor was waiting.

"Back already Pond?" he asked affectionately. "Where's the other me."

"He ran off," she said dejectedly.

"Why?" the Doctor asked concernedly.

Amy shook her head. "We had a row."

"About?"

Amy gave him a pointed look.

"Oh," he said quietly. "I understand."

Suddenly, Amy heard a sliding sound. She whirled around and saw the same eye-patch woman looking at her. "She's doing fine," the woman stated. "We're more than half-way there now."

"Oh!" Amy exclaimed as the vision disappeared.

"What is it?" the Doctor asked. "What did you see?"

"A woman," Amy answered in a shaky voice. "With an eye patch."

"Was this the first time?"

Amy shook her head. "No, first time she said that I was dreaming."

"And this time?"

"This time she said that I was more than half-way there."

The Doctor walked all around Amy and she got the distinct feeling that she was being scrutinized. "What does it mean?" she asked.

"Don't know," he said as he went back to the terminal. "Might be nothing."

"But it might be something."

"Don't know. And we don't have time right now."

"Problem," said the other Doctor as he strode back through the doors.

"What problem?" asked the Doctor

"No TARDIS. She's stuck in a hole caused by the acid."

"And the other problem."

"I can hear them in my head."

"You can connect to the Flesh," the Doctor pondered.

"You are Flesh," Amy snapped.

"I understand what it needs," the ganger continued.

"What you need," Amy pointed out. "You are it."

"It's powerful," the ganger added. "And it can grow right?"

"The cells can divide," Cleaves answered.

"Well it wants to do that at will. It wants revenge, on you. On all of us."

"If you're it," Cleaves said in a steady tone. "Then you better stay away."

"But I'm him," the Doctor interjected. "He's me."

Buzzer walked in between the Doctor and his Ganger to stop interference.

"We don't care about you Doctor," Cleaves assured. "Your Ganger on the other hand could prove to be the downfall of us all."

"This is absurd," the Doctor muttered.

"Sit down mate," Jimmy ordered.

The Ganger Doctor did as he was told and looked coldly at Amy.

"Is this what you want?" the bow-tieless Doctor asked her.

"I want to get out of here," Amy answered. "And without the TARDIS it's going to be a little difficult now, isn't it."

Suddenly the communications whirred to life and Cleaves was suddenly on with the other end. After the solar storm they had become worried and had sent out a rescue team. "Be warned," Cleaves added. "Our gangers have developed minds of their own. They're armed and dangerous."

"How will we know the difference?"

"We'll give you a codeword," Cleaves promised. "Apples."

"That and the sonic can differentiate," the Doctor added.

"So there is a difference," Amy pointed out.

"Molecularly maybe," the Doctor answered. "But not in here," he said as he tapped his hearts. "Not where it counts."

Suddenly an explosion rocked the evac tower and the lines went dead.

"Well that settles it," the Ganger said as he stood up. "Can't stay here."

"Can't go to the TARDIS either," the Doctor added.

"Well we've got to go somewhere," Amy said angrily. "So let's go."

The two Doctors led the way again however to avoid the acid leaks and the deadly smoke they found themselves going deeper and deeper into the tunnels of the monastery until they came to a room that took them all by surprise. It was fully of rotting Flesh corpses. They were still alive, still blinking. Amy cowered into her Doctor, ashamed to know that humans could do something so dreadful to another living creature.

"You see now," the Doctor asked. "They are alive."

Cleaves looked stricken. "I didn't know… If I had…"

Suddenly there was a rumbling sound and the same Gangers that had been going after them before were chasing them again. The group ran for their lives and somehow through a bit of luck made it back to the dining hall. But that was where their luck ended because the Gangers were right behind them.

"That is enough!" the Doctor exclaimed as he strode forward.

The Ganger Buzzer stepped forward angry. "You killed Jen."

And before anyone could do anything, he shot acid at Jimmy who fell to the ground, dying. Cleaves and Amy were at his side. "My son," he was choking out. "My son is five… tell him,"

"Shush now," Cleaves ordered.

"Tell him I love him…"

"I will," she assured.

But Amy noticed that Jimmy wasn't looking at Cleaves, he was looking at his ganger. Just then there was a ringing sound and the Doctor opened up the holo-call. "Hello there!" he exclaimed in a rather cheerful voice, positioning it so that the boy would not see the death that had just happened. "Who are you?"

"Adam," the boy answered.

"Hello Adam," the Doctor greeted. "I'm the Doctor."

"Hello Doctor," Adam said. "Is my Dad there?"

"And who's your Dad?" the Doctor asked.

"I am," ganger Jimmy stated stepping forward. Both Buzzers, both Cleaves, both Doctors and Amy watched as he enjoyed a nice normal conversation with his son.

"Come back soon Daddy," Adam asked in his sweet voice. "I miss you."

"Miss you too son," ganger Jimmy agreed. "And Happy Birthday."

With that said the phone call turned off and the Doctor looked to the two groups. "You see now. Not so different after all."

The Ganger Buzzer wasn't so convinced and he started shooting at the rest. The originals, the Doctors, Amy and ganger Cleaves and Jimmy raced from the room. They were forced by the rampaging Buzzer to go down below ground and just when they thought that all was lost, the TARDIS came crashing down through the ground.

"Okay everybody in," the Doctor ordered as he put the originals and the ganger Jimmy into the TARDIS while Amy, the ganger Doctor and the ganger Cleaves shored up the door. "Right now…"

Ganger Cleaves and the two Doctors suddenly were at the door holding it closed against the rampage of the Flesh. "Come on!" Amy cried out. "Let's go."

"I have to stay," ganger Doctor said. "Hold the door closed. Give you time."

"And what happens to you?"

"This place will explode," the Doctor said as he held the door shut too.

"But you'll survive yeah?" Amy asked the Ganger Doctor.

He shook his head.

"Maybe I should stay," the Doctor said.

"No!" Amy exclaimed. "Listen," she continued facing the ganger. "I know that you're not him, but you act like him and I'm sorry but…"

"Amy," the Doctor interjected. "I'm staying."

"No," she snapped. "You're not."

"I am," he insisted. "Because I'm the Flesh."

Amy looked to her bow-tie-less Doctor. "But…"

"I lied," the bow-tie Doctor said. "From the beginning."

"What?" she asked, eyes wide.

"I'm the original," he insisted. "I had to know if we were the same."

"More than that, we had to learn about the Flesh through your eyes," the Ganger, bow-tie-less Doctor exclaimed. Amy for her part was totally flabbergasted and before she knew it she had her arms around the real Ganger Doctor.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm so sorry."

"Oh Pond,"

"And I had no idea," Amy continued.

"Bout what?" Ganger Doctor asked.

"You're twice the man I thought you were."

Ganger Doctor gave her a smile. "Now get out of here."

The real Doctor and Amy took each other's hands while ganger Cleaves stayed behind. Both the Doctor and Amy protested but Cleaves said that there was no point having two of her around, and with that said and an apology from the Doctor— they left the Gangers to do their thing and escapes via the TARDIS.

…

Amy and the Doctor dropped Jimmy off at his home so that he could see his son, and Cleaves was dropped off at headquarters to tell the world what had happened. Once that was done, Amy and the Doctor returned to the TARDIS seemingly happy as clams. But Amy noticed that the Doctor seemed down. "What is it?" she asked. "What's wrong?"

"I got what I was looking for."

"Oh?" Amy asked in a sing-song voice. "And what was that?"

The Doctor turned on Amy and pointed his sonic at her.

"Doctor?" she asked.

"I needed enough information to block the signal to the Flesh."

"What signal? What are you doing?"

The Doctor sighed. "The signal to you."

Amy's eyes widened. "What?"

"Given what I've learned, I'll be as humane as I can but I need to do this."

Amy shook her head. "What are you talking about?"

"Amy…"

"Please," she whispered as she walked towards the Doctor and took his other hand. "I'm frightened now. Properly, properly scared."

The Doctor lowered his sonic and placed both hands (one with the sonic in it) on either side of his wife's head. "Don't be. Hold on Amy, for me. I'm coming to find you. I swear that I am. Whatever happens, however hard, however far, I will find you."

"I'm right here," Amy cried as she put her hands on his arms. "Right here."

"No," he said sadly. "You haven't been. Not since the twilight planet."

With that said the Doctor pulled away and held up the sonic once more.

"Amy," he apologized. "I coming for you. I promise."

"Doctor," she pleaded, not understanding. "I love you."

The Doctor looked at her, with tears in his eyes. "And I you."

And before either of them could say anything else, the Doctor pressed the sonic screwdriver and watched as his wife melted into flesh.

…

One minute Amy was on the TARDIS watching her husband point his sonic screwdriver at her, the next she was in a white container wearing a white hospital gown. Above her a window slid open and she looked up into the face of the eye-patch lady. "Oh dear," she said in a cool voice. "Seems as though you're awake. We had hoped that you'd sleep for another three months or so but it would seem as though even the best laid plans go to waste sometimes. Not worry though, we'll take good care of you and that little one that you're carrying."

The door slid shut again and Amy looked down, her stomach was a lot bigger than she had remembered and when she put her hands on it she felt a baby kicking within. "Oh my god," she whispered as tears pricked her eyes. "I'm pregnant."

TBC

_Author's Note 2: About that line at the end… whatever happens, however hard, however far… I've been DYING to write that since I first saw the trailer back when I first started writing this little ficlett of mine… or can you call a 50k+ story a ficlett? Please review!_


	26. Battle for Demon's Run

DISCLAIMER: "Doctor Who" belongs to the BBC and their writers. I am getting no financial reward from this; I am merely borrowing the premise and characters for my own enjoyment and yours too hopefully.

**Chapter Twenty-****Six: Battle for Demon's Run **

Amy looked around her new surroundings. She had been moved there practically the moment that she had awakened from within the tube, which she supposed was like more future version of the future harnesses that she had seen, or rather that her ganger had seen on Earth. The whole idea behind the Flesh was strange. One minute she was with the Doctor on the TARDIS and the next she was on some god, forsaken asteroid, six months pregnant to boot.

One month had passed since she had awoken and for every single day Madame Kovarian— the woman who had kidnapped Amy— taunted her by saying that he precious Doctor wasn't going to come and rescue her, because if that were the case then he would have been at their door the moment she had woken up. Amy however, knew better.

"_However hard, however far, I will find you." _That's what he had said. Her Doctor, her husband had promised her that he would find her and Amy knew that the Doctor never EVER broke a promise…

…

"I broke my promise," the Doctor said dejectedly as he sat in Rory's sitting room. "I'm sorry."

"You… what?"

"I promised you that I would keep Amy safe. I promised her parents that I would watch out for her. I promised myself that no harm would ever come to her and…"

"Doctor what happened?" Rory asked, sitting across from him.

"She was taken," he explained. "Right under my nose."

"When?" Rory asked.

The Doctor shrugged. "No way to say for sure, but if I were to hazard a guess I'd say that she went missing sometime during our honeymoon."

"Not before?"

The Doctor shook his head. "No. Definitely during the honeymoon."

"Doctor what are you going to do?"

"Don't worry," he assured with a weak smile. "I've got a plan."

"An actual plan, or a sorta make it up as I go along plan."

The Doctor gave Rory a grave look. "This is my wife we're talking about. I have an actual by the numbers plan."

"Then why are you here talking to me?"

"You're going to be a part of the plan Rory. I need your help to get Amy."

Rory just looked at the Doctor and nodded. "What did you have in mind?"

…

Amy caressed her growing stomach and felt the baby within kick. It was an amazing thing, having a little life grow within her and she could only imagine what kind of baby she was going to have. She didn't know if it was going to be a boy or a girl. She had always wanted a little girl growing up, but now that she was pregnant she wondered whether it would be better to have a little boy— one that looked just like the Doctor.

"I'm not sure that you can hear me," she whispered as she talked. "But I feel like I need to tell you this. I wish that I could tell you that you'll be loved once your born… that you'll be safe and cared for and protected… but I don't know. What I do know is that you're going to have to be very, brave. But not as brave as Madame Kovarian is going to have to be because there's something coming. I don't know where he is, or what he's doing, but trust me… he's on his way and not even an army can get in the way.

"He's the last of his kind." Amy continued, tearing up at the thought. "He looks young but he's lived for hundreds and hundreds of years and I can tell you that if you're taken from me— you'll never be alone. Because this man is your father and he will never stop searching for you. He has a name but the people of our world know him better as the Doctor…"

…

"Okay now," the Doctor began as he faced a couple Cybermen. "I've got a message and a question, both from me…"

"Speak the question," one of the cybermen intoned.

"Where is my wife?" the Doctor asked looking very dangerous.

The Cybermen said nothing, so he continued speaking. "Oh don't give me those blank looks. This is the twelfth Cyber Legion. You lot monitor the entire quadrant. Nothing escapes your notice, you hear and see everything so you tell me what I need to know and you tell me now."

"What is your message?" the cyberleader asked

The Doctor just pointed behind him as the ships outside in space began to explode. "So I ask again,"

…

"Oh turn if off!" River said into a phone. "I'm breaking in, not out. This is River Song, back in her cell… oh and I'll take breakfast at the usual time thank you!" River hung up the phone and glided across the floor. She stopped suddenly when she saw a silhouette. "You there," she called out. "Who are you?"

"River?" the Doctor asked as he came from the shadows. "River what are you wearing?"

River looked at him blankly. "Don't you know?" she asked. "It's my birthday. You just took me skating on the River Thames in 1814, the last of the great frost fairs. You got Stevie Wonder to sing for me under London Bridge."

Now it was the Doctor's turn to look at her blankly. "I got Stevie Wonder to sing in 1814?"

River nodded. "Thought it was all a dream, silly boy. Now tell me, not that I don't mind having you here again so soon, but you seem worried…" River paused and looked at the Doctor. "You're from a different point in time. Must be the past, or else you'd know about the Frost Fair…" she strode past the Doctor into her cell.

"I need your help River," the Doctor began as she took of her hat. "I wasn't going to come here at all but I figured that if I'm collecting the best and brightest that I've ever known, well you're near the top of that list… I can't deny that."

River said nothing, she merely looked at her journal. "Demon's Run."

"Yes Demon's Run. That's where they've taken Amy. My Amy."

River spun on her heels. "Your Amy."

The Doctor nodded and leaned against the entrance way to her cell. "Yes. My Amy."

River shook her head, not really understanding. "But she's Rory's Amy."

"No," the Doctor countered. "She's not."

"But she is," River asserted.

"She isn't," the Doctor insisted. "She's mine. She's my wife and she's—"

"Wife?" she exclaimed, sitting down onto her bed. "You married her?"

The Doctor nodded. "Course I married her, I love her."

River just stared at the Doctor with wide eyes. "You weren't supposed to marry her…" she whispered almost breathlessly.

"What do you mean I wasn't supposed to marry her?" the Doctor asked, getting a little angry until a thought crossed his mind. "Oh of course, my history doesn't line up with that book of yours well I'm sorry to say River that just because you think that we're meant to have a shared history doesn't mean that it's true. I love Amy, with both my hearts and I'll be damned if I don't get her back."

"The forest…" River whispered, dropping her gaze.

"What?" the Doctor asked. "What forest? Amy's on an asteroid."

River looked back up at him and nodded. "I understand now. Funny, how I understand now and only now. I'm warning you Doctor, this is the Battle of Demon's Run and it's going to be your darkest hour. You'll rise higher than ever before and then fall so much farther."

"Why are you telling me this?" he asked. "What about spoilers?"

River shook her head. "I haven't spoilt anything, not really."

The Doctor sighed. "River I don't have time for this."

"Course you do," she snapped. "You've got a time machine remember."

"That's besides the point," he snapped back. "I don't want to wait anymore. You're the last person that I need to collect so come on."

River shook her head. "No."

"What do you mean no?"

"I mean that I know what's going to happen and I can't be there."

The Doctor looked at her incredulously. "River?"

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I'm so sorry but I can't."

…

"Sorry," came a voice from the doorway, startling Amy out of her thoughts. "I shouldn't be here, I really shouldn't. I'm meant to be at the thing down there but I… I have a prayer leaf for you. It's supposed to bring the one you love back to you."

Amy looked at the young girl and took the leaf from her. "Thanks. Can I borrow your gun?"

The girl soldier looked at her. "Why?"

"Because I want to get out of here…" she paused and faced the window which allowed her to look down into the complex. "They're talking like him as though he's famous."

"He meets a lot of people," the girl pointed out. "Some of them remember, others better than most. He's sort of like a… I dunno. A dark legend of sorts."

"Dark?" Amy asked, whirling around again. "Have you met him?"

"Yeah."

"My husband isn't dark."

"You're married to the Doctor?" she asked in awe.

Amy looked to the girl. "Who are you?"

"Lorna Bucket ma'am."

"Well yes Lorna Bucket, I am married to the Doctor."

Lorna smiled. "Wow."

"So, when did you meet him?" Amy asked.

"When I was a little girl."

Amy smiled wistfully. "So was I."

Lorna looked at her in surprise. "You've been with him for a long time."

"No," she replied, shaking her head. "He came back for me."

"You must be very special."

"Well he loves me," Amy said with a shrug. "But you know, you can wait a long time for the Doctor— a lifetime even but he's worth it okay? And you know what he's coming. There's no question about it. He promised me that he'd come for me and you know… just make sure that you're on the right side when he gets here. Not for my sake, but for yours because my Doctor isn't going to take very kindly to anyone who stands in his way."

Lorna looked at Amy and then nodded before leaving Amy alone to listen to what the crazy Manton as she thought of him was saying.

"On this day, in this place, the Doctor will fall. The man who talks, the man who reasons, the man who lies, will meet the perfect answer. Some of you have wondered why have we have allied ourselves with the Headless Monks.

Amy could see Lorna take her position in the crowd of soldiers.

"Perhaps you should have wondered why we call them Headless. It's time you knew what these guys have sacrificed for faith. As you all know, it is a Level One Heresy, punishable by death, to lower the hood of a Headless Monk. But by the divine grant of the Papal Mainframe herself, on this one and only occasion, I can show you the truth. Because these guys never can be..."

Manton lowered the hood of the first monk to show a knotted stump where the head and neck should have been. Amy recoiled from the sight as Manton continued talking and lowering hoods. "They never can be afraid and they can never be,"

"Surprise!" announced the Doctor as his hood was pulled down. The soldiers were all stunned, but Amy from her vantage point couldn't be happier.

"Hello everyone!" the Doctor greeted as he walked to the front of the stage, "Guess who? Please point a gun at me if it helps you relax."

Amy watched as all the soldiers, save for Lorna aim their guns at the Doctor and the monks drew swords that crackled with what looked like fire.

"Doctor," Manton ordered. "You will come with me, right now."

The Doctor merely smiled and looked at Manton. "Three minutes, forty seconds." He could see that the general was curious but then the Doctor turned to look at the window. "Amelia Pond!" he called out. "Get your coat!"

And then the lights flickered and the Doctor was gone.

"I'm not a phantom," the Doctor said over a speaker. "I'm not a trickster. I'm the Doctor and you're in a whole heap of trouble."

Amy blinked in surprise as the monks started fighting amongst each other and soon, the monks were gone— they seemed to have run away and people that she couldn't quite make out surrounded the remaining soldiers. Some seemed familiar and others did not. Amy turned away from the window to the door and waited for the Doctor to come to her.

…

"I am sorry Colonel Manton," the Doctor apologized in the main control room of Demon's Run. "I lied. Three minutes, forty-two seconds."

"I think you better withdraw your men," Rory said with a smirk.

Colonel Manton just glared at him. "I'm not withdrawing my men."

"No," the Doctor agreed. "I want you to tell them to run away."

"What?" the colonel asked.

"Those words. Run away. I want you to be famous for those exact words. I want people to call you Colonel Run-Away. I want children laughing outside your door, cos they've found the house of Colonel Run-Away…" the Doctor paused and pointed his finger at Manton. "And, when people come to you, and ask if trying to get to me through the people I love... is in any way a good idea... I want you to tell them your name. Oh, look! I'm angry. That's new. I'm really not sure what's going to happen now."

Suddenly Madame Kovarian who was being escorted by two Silurians joined the Doctor and Manton. "The anger of a good man is not a problem. Good men have too many rules."

The Doctor slowly turned to Kovarian. "Good men don't need rules," he pointed out as he walked to her. "And today is not the day to find out why I have so many."

Madame Kovarian just looked at him. "Why are you here?"

"You took my wife," the Doctor whispered. "I can forgive a lot of things, but not that."

"Give the order," Kovarian said, looking past the Doctor to Manton.

The Doctor grinned and walked away, leaving the two of them in good hands.

…

A knock at the door, scared Amy and she suddenly wondered if she should find something with which to defend herself, but she couldn't find anything. "Who's that?" she asked at last. "Who's there? You watch it cos I'm really dangerous and… cross."

"Oh Amelia, you're not cross you're scared."

"Doctor?" Amy asked. "Is that you?"

"Yes it's me," he answered using the sonic and within moments he was through the door and racing towards Amy, although he stopped briefly when he saw her. "Oh…!" he exclaimed. "You're uh.. you're…"

"Pregnant." Amy answered. "I know. It was a shock to me too."

"You mean you… and me?"

Amy nodded, biting back a grin. "We're having a baby."

The Doctor grinned and pulled Amy into a massive hug. "You're alright."

"Course I'm alright," she answered as she held onto him tight. "I knew that you were coming. You told me that you'd find me."

"I'm sorry we were so long," he apologized.

"Don't be sorry," Amy assured. "You're here. I'm so glad that you're here!"

"Doctor!" came a voice from below. Amy and the Doctor went to the window.

"Who's that?" Amy asked.

"Vastra," the Doctor answered.

"Demon's Run is ours Doctor!" she exclaimed. "Without a drop of blood being spilled. My friend, you have never risen higher!"

Amy smiled at that sentiment, but noticed that the Doctor had stiffened beside her. "You okay?" she asked.

The Doctor looked to her and nodded. "So long as we get you out of here."

The Doctor took her down to the asteroid's hanger, where the TARDIS was waiting and those who had helped the Doctor get Amy, including Rory who Amy was glad to see, joined them.

"You're pregnant," Rory exclaimed.

"Yes we've been over this," the Doctor said with a smile.

"You're going to have a baby."

"Yes Rory," Amy answered. "That's the way it works."

Rory shook his head. "Wow. Uh, congratulations, to the both of you."

Amy smiled. "Thanks Rory."

"Uh, Doctor?" Rory asked. "Permission to hug?"

"Granted," the Doctor said with a smile.

Rory turned to Amy and hugged her. "I'm glad you're safe," he whispered.

"I'm glad that you helped the Doctor come and get me," she said as she pulled away. "You know there's one thing that I don't get. I was here, this entire time? I thought that I was on the TARDIS but I was here?"

"Yes," the Doctor. "You were on the TARDIS too. Your heart, your mind, your soul was there but physically yes. You were in this place."

"And when I saw that face looking through the hatch…?"

"Reality bleeding through," the Doctor answered. "I figure they took you on our honeymoon."

"But the Flesh body that I was in was with you all that time," Amy pointed out. "That means that they were projecting some sort of signal right into the TARDIS, wherever we were in time and space."

The Doctor nodded. "That's right."

"Who could have the power to do that?" Rory asked.

"I don't know," the Doctor admitted. "But I'm going to find out."

"I'm coming with you." Amy stated.

The Doctor shook his head. "No, I want you to stay here where you'll be safe."

Amy opened her mouth to argue but the Doctor kissed her before walking away. "I shan't be long love. Take care of her Rory."

"Okay Doctor,"

…

"You've hacked into their software then?" the Doctor asked.

"I believe I sold it to them," Dorium answered.

"So what have we learned?"

"That anger is always the shortest distance to a mistake,"

"What was that Vastra?" the Doctor asked.

"The wordsof an old friend who once found me in the London Underground, attempting to avenge my sisters on perfectly innocent tunnel diggers."

The Doctor grinned. "Well you were rather cross at the time."

"As you were today friend," she pointed out. "Do you see what I'm saying?"

The Doctor nodded but said nothing.

"Good," Vastra said with a smile. "Now, I have a question for you. A simple one. What is your baby doing to Amy?"

"Sorry, what?" the Doctor asked.

"They've been scanning Amy since they brought her here," Dorium answered. "I think they were looking for something."

The Doctor looked to the screen. "Human DNA, so what?"

"Look closer," Vastra prompted. "Human plus."

"Human...what?" the Doctor asked.

"Human plus Time Lord," Vastra finished

...

"We found this one lurking in the corners," one of the Silurians stated as they brought Lorna to Amy and Rory. "What do you want us to do with her?"

"I'm on your side," Lorna insisted. "I heard them talking, this is a trap."

"Course it was meant to be a trap but the Doctor beat it," Rory insisted.

"I wouldn't lie to you, why would I lie to you?"

"You might want to look at your uniform," Rory pointed out.

"The only reason I joined the Clerics was to meet the Doctor again."

"You wanted to meet him so you joined an army to fight him?" asked Amy.

"How else do you meet a great warrior?" asked Lorna.

"He's not a warrior," Amy insisted. "My husband is not a warrior."

Lorna looked at Amy, surprised. "Then why is he called the Doctor?"

Amy went to answer the young girl, when the lights suddenly flickered.

"It's starting," Lorna said. "You've got to believe me."

…

"That can't be right," the Doctor said. "She's human. Amy is human."

"You told me about your people," Vastra explained. "They became what they did through prolonged exposure to the time vortex, the untempered schism."

"Over billions of years," the Doctor countered. "It didn't just happen."

"Yes," Vastra agreed. "When did it happen?"

"When did what happen?" the Doctor asked.

"I am trying to be delicate," Vastra continued. "I know that it took your species billions of years to adapt to be what you are now, however what would carrying the child of a Time Lord do to a human?"

The Doctor turned away from the screen. "Oh…"

…

"Confirmed," Strax the Sontaran said. "No life forms registering."

"Except for us?" asked Rory.

"Except for us."

"The monks aren't alive," Lorna pointed out. "They don't register as life forms."

…

"But I don't understand," the Doctor exclaimed. "It doesn't make sense! Carrying a Time Lord shouldn't be doing this to Amy."

"You have no idea what carrying a time baby will do to a human, who's to say that this isn't a result? There has to be a reason why you've never gotten involved with a human before."

The Doctor furrowed his brow. "First I was married once, and I had a granddaughter and then it was all zipping across the universe and then it was the time war and I had to destroy my planet to save all creation and then I…" the Doctor shrugged his shoulders. "Then I was all moody and willing to die and then Rose came along."

"Ah yes," Vastra interrupted. "You told me about her. You loved her."

The Doctor sighed. "A version of me still does, in another universe."

"She taught you to love again."

The Doctor nodded. "That she did."

"And your other companions…?"

"Mates," he insisted. "Well Martha wanted something more but Donna was just a friend."

"And then came Amy."

The Doctor smiled. "My Amelia… but this shouldn't be happening."

"Maybe," Vastra agreed. "Maybe not. Maybe they've been working to create this. Maybe they've been trying to create their own Time Lord."

"And yet they gave in so easily," Dorium pointed out. "Does this not bother anyone else but me?"

Vastra and the Doctor looked to each other, both on the same wavelength.

"This is a problem," Vastra agreed. "This is to easy. Something's wrong."

"But why take Amy in the first place?" the Doctor asked. "Why would turning her into a Time Lord be a priority."

"Maybe they're after your baby."

"Why would they want a time lord baby?"

"For a weapon?" Vastra suggested.

"Why would a Time Lord be a weapon?" the Doctor asked.

"Well," Vastra began. "They've seen you."

"Me?" the Doctor asked. "Me?"

"Mister Maldovar," Vastra began. "You're right. This was too easy. Doctor you need to get back to your wife."

But the Doctor couldn't move. He was stunned. "Me?" he asked again.

"I see you accessed our files," came Madame Kovarian on a screen. "Do you understand yet?" she asked as the Doctor stood up. "Oh don't worry Doctor. I'm a long way away. But I like to keep tabs on you. I see that you have seen what your baby is doing to your wife. What do you think?"

"Why are you doing this?" the Doctor asked.

"For hope," Kovarian answered. "Hope in this endless, bitter war."

"War?" the Doctor exclaimed. "What war? Against who?"

"Against you, Doctor."

…

Amy found herself in the middle of a war. The people that had come to rescue her were now fighting for their lives. "Stay put," Rory told her as he hid her amongst some crates. "Don't get hurt. The Doctor will kill me if you get hurt."

"Rory," she said quietly, suddenly afraid of losing her friend. "Don't die."

Rory gave her a grin. "Not a chance."

…

"My wife is NOT a weapon!" the Doctor exclaimed angrily.

"Oh give us time," Kovarian answered "She will be."

"Except that you've already lost her," the Doctor said. "I swear I will never let you anywhere near her again."

"Oh Doctor," Kovarian said with a smile. "Fooling you once was a joy... but fooling you twice, the same way, it's a privilege."

The Doctor felt his heart drop. "Amy…"

Without a second thought he ran to Amy.

…

Amy was cowering, praying that the Doctor was no where near the battle, but then she wished that he was there because a slide opened up in front of her and Amy saw Madame Kovarian's face. "Now come along Pond," she said in a mocking tone and the next thing that Amy knew she was inside a tube.

"No!" she cried in frustration and horror. "No!"

"Hush," Kovarian ordered. "Your Doctor can't save you this time."

…

"Amy!" the Doctor exclaimed as he came into the hanger, the battle was over but there was no sign of her. "Amy! Amy!"

"Doctor?" asked Rory as he came forward. "What is it?"

The Doctor said nothing until he came to a pile of Flesh and instantly he closed his eyes. "Oh Amy…"

"What is it?" Rory asked. "Where's Amy."

"She tricked me," the Doctor sighed. "She's tricked me twice."

"Help!" Vastra called out. "Strax is hurt."

Rory left the Doctor and went to Strax's side.

"It's strange," he was saying. "I have often dreamed of dying in combat. I am not enjoying at much as I'd hoped."

"Come on Strax," Rory promited. "Don't give up."

"It's alright Rory. I've had a good life. I'm nearly twelve."

"Is twelve old for your people?"

Strax nodded. "Oh yes. Most only live to eight."

"Well you'll live to be twenty or more," Rory insisted. "You're a warrior."

"No," Strax insisted. "I'm a nurse."

When Strax was dead Rory stood up, tears in his eyes. "So it was all for nothing," he muttered looking to the Doctor who was trying to control the torrent of emotions within him. "We lost Amy anyway."

"Doctor," Vastra interrupted. "There's someone who wants to speak to you."

The Doctor walked over to Vastra.

"Her name is Lorna," she whispered. "She warned us."

The Doctor scanned Lorna with his sonic screwdriver and confirmed that she too was dying. The Doctor squatted down beside her and then rubbed his face with his hands in frustration. He couldn't believe that he had been so stupid. He couldn't believe it had come to this.

Lorna opened her eyes as the Doctor looked at her. "Hey," he whispered.

"Doctor?" she exclaimed weakly.

"You helped my friends," the Doctor said. "Thank you."

"I met you once," Lorna whispered. "In the Gamma Forests. You wouldn't remember me."

"Hey now, course I remember you," he said as he held her face between his hands. "I remember everyone. You and me, we ran. Didn't we run Lorna?"

"Yes," Lorna whispered. "We ran… with Am—"

Before she could finish her sentence she died and the Doctor stood up.

"Who was she Vastra?" he asked, not knowing who she was.

"I don't know," Vastra replied. "But she was brave."

"They're always brave," the Doctor whispered. "So brave."

"What now Doctor?" Vastra asked. "They'll have taken Amy somewhere to have her child. Probably to Earth."

"They did," the Doctor said with such a profound sadness as he realized that the little girl in the spacesuit was his daughter. "It's too late."

"You're giving up?" Vastra asked in shock. "You never do that."

The Doctor turned to Vastra. "Don't you wish that I did?"

Before she could answer there was a bright light and a clap of thunder.

"Well soldier," came River's voice. "How goes the day?"

The Doctor strode over to River, furious. "Where the hell have you been River?" he asked angrily. "Where have you been? Every time you've asked, I have been there whether I liked to or not. Where the hell were you today? I needed you today. I needed you to save Amy."

River shook her head. "I couldn't have prevented this."

"You could have tried!" the Doctor shouted. "Now I've lost her."

"For now," River assured. "And you could have too."

"You think I wanted this?" he asked furiously. "I didn't do this. This wasn't me. It wasn't me at all."

"This was exactly you," River argued. "All this, all of it. You make them so afraid. When you began, all those years ago, sailing off to see the universe, did you ever think you'd become this? The man who can turn an army around at the mention of his name? Doctor? The word for healer and wise man, throughout the universe…

"We get that word from you, you know. But if you carry on the way you are, what might that word come to mean? To the people of the Gamma Forests, the word "Doctor" means mighty warrior. How far you've come. And now they've taken your wife and they're going to turn your child into a weapon to bring you down. All of this has been done in fear of you."

The Doctor just stared at River. "Who are you?"

"Someone who loves you, but can never have you." River answered sadly.

"What?"

"Use your brain Doctor," River insisted. "What did Lorna say?"

The Doctor blinked and thought.

"She said we ran… we ran with…"

River nodded. "That's right. That's where they've taken her."

The Doctor's eyes lit up and he kissed River on the cheek. "Oh thank you River. Thank you, thank you, thank you." The Doctor grinned and then turned to those friends who were left standing. "Vastra, Jenny until the next time. Rory, River'll take you back to Ledworth."

"And where are you going?" asked Rory as the Doctor opened the doors to the TARDIS. "Doctor if you're going after Amy, I want to go too."

"Don't worry Rory, I'm going to get my wife back."

And with that, the doors to the TARDIS closed and the blue box disappeared.

TBC

_Author's Note__: So I loved "A Good Man Goes To War" it was so good and this chapter is meant to encapsulate the brilliantness of that story. Of course, I've made some massive changes in this chapter as you could see. Rory's still in it, cause I love Rory and we're starting to learn more about River. :D I can't wait for this Saturday's episode! _

_Oh, and if there's a delay in the next chapter coming, it's not because I've given up on this story 'cause I so haven't but I'm going FAR away from cannon right now and I won't be back to it for a little while and it might take me a while to write the next chapter. I hope not though… _

…_anyways I'm rambling. Please review!_


	27. In the Gamma Forests

DISCLAIMER: "Doctor Who" belongs to the BBC and their writers. I am getting no financial reward from this; I am merely borrowing the premise and characters for my own enjoyment and yours too hopefully.

_Author's Note: So, oh. my. god. "The God Complex" was a great episode! I absolutely loved it. It was fantastic, and there was so much characterization there, and I loved the whole concept, but I hated how the Doctor had to destroy the __faith that Amy has in him –sob- so not fair at all! Anyways, here's my newest chapter, done a LOT sooner than I thought it would be. Hope you'll review!_

**Chapter 27: In the Gamma Forests**

Amy couldn't believe her bad luck. She was being led across uneven ground, very, very pregnant. She hoped that she was herself; he hated how she had been tricked twice into believing that she had been with the Doctor when really she hadn't. _Oh I hope that you know where I am,_ she pleaded to herself, hoping that somehow that the Doctor could hear her, or even sense her. 'I need you Doctor; our baby is going to need you.'

"Hurry up," Madame Kovarian snapped. "We have got to get to camp by nightfall. We do not want to be stuck out here when the sun sets."

Amy didn't believe Kovarian so far as she could throw her, however she did have the feeling that the forest, while being beautiful wasn't exactly the place that she wanted to be after dark. And so even though her feet her hurting, along with her back, and her hips and nearly everything else, Amy pressed on all the while hoping that her beloved Doctor was out there somewhere.

…

"Oh come on!" the Doctor cursed as he tried to pilot the TARDIS. "Don't be like this. I know where she is…" he paused and listened to the whirs and wines of his beloved machine and even though he couldn't really understand her, the Doctor knew what she was saying. "I don't care if the Gamma Forests are hard to find, we're going to get there. Amy is there. She needs us. Our baby is going to need us…"

The TARDIS gave a complimentary crack and the Doctor piloted the blue box to a near perfect landing. When he opened the doors he saw that he had landed right in the path of a little girl. She had brown hair and bright eyes, eyes that he had seen the light go out of so recently.

"Oh," the Doctor said with a half smile as he exited his TARDIS fully. "Hello."

"Are you a monster?" the little girl asked.

"What?" the Doctor asked in turn. "No. No of course not. I'm no monster."

The little girl looked at him warily. "You look like monster."

"Do I?" the Doctor asked, turning to see if he could get a glimpse of himself in the TARDIS windows, but the light in the forest was such that there was nothing for him to really see except for the glass itself. "I really don't think so," he continued, turning once more to face the little girl. "I am the most un-scary person in the whole wide universe. Unless you mean the bow-tie… maybe bow-ties are scary here."

The little girl blinked. "I'm Lorna," she said at last.

The Doctor smiled. "Hello Lorna, I'm the Doctor."

"Are you looking for someone?" little Lorna asked.

"You're a very smart girl," the Doctor replied. "Yes I'm looking for someone."

"Is she a girl with red hair?"

The Doctor's eyes brightened and his hearts filled with hope. "Yes. Yes that's her. Have you seen her?"

"She was brought into our village last night by the one-eyed woman," Lorna replied. "She seemed really sad. I didn't go up and talk to her, but I like her anyways. Much more than the one-eyed woman."

"Yes well the one-eyed woman has stolen her from me, twice."

Lorna furrowed her little brow. "That's not nice."

"No it's not," the Doctor agreed. "Now Lorna, do you think that you could lead me to your village?"

"Oh yes," she assured. "But your blue box is blocking the way."

The Doctor stepped out further and realized that he had parked the TARDIS right in the middle of the narrow path. "Can't we go around?" he asked.

"Oh no," Lorna said with wide eyes. "We must never leave the path."

"Why not?" asked the Doctor curiously, wondering if there was something foul in the woods which made it unsafe for the locals to leave the path.

"You see the glowing trees?" Lorna asked, pointing into the forest.

The Doctor looked into the forest. "I see your ordinary run of the mill, garden variety trees," he said. "Although maybe not your garden variety trees because lets face it, who really has gardens in their trees? Or is it trees in their gardens," he paused and looked down at Lorna. "Things can get a bit muddled sometimes, I hope you don't mind."

"No," Lorna assured. "Not at all, but do you see the Glowing Trees?"

The Doctor peered into the depths of the forest and even though he saw nothing at first, the more he looked, the more he realized that some trees were giving off a little glow. "That's amazing," he muttered aloud. "Why are they doing that? What are they doing that for?"

"They are the life trees," Lorna answered. "They give life to the forest."

"And what makes them dangerous?" the Doctor asked, realizing that there was something that Lorna was not telling him.

"If you go near them, if you touch them, you can be created."

"What?" asked the Doctor. "You mean like a clone."

"No," Lorna answered shaking her head. "To have a clone one must be the same, but if a Glowing Tree takes your life, you are left as you are but another you, a different you is also put beside you."

"So you mean that if you touch a Glowing Tree it extracts your DNA and changes it around to create a new person?"

Lorna shrugged her little shoulders. "You used a lot of words that I don't understand, but it sounds about right."

The Doctor instinctually took a step backwards. He had come across such a thing before, in another lifetime however it was a machine which created a new person. He had been given the gift of a daughter. Donna had given her the name Jenny and then the Doctor had to watch as his newly acquired daughter died.

"Okay, so we won't touch the trees," he said. "Just give me a minute and I'll move my box."

Lorna watched fascinated as the Doctor went back inside the TARDIS, made it disappear from in front of her and then reappear behind her. He exited the TARDIS and then locked it. "Okay Lorna," he said with a smile. "Lead the way."

...

"The Doctor is going to come and get you, you know." Amy told Madame Kovarian as they both sat down to breakfast. "He's coming and you can bet your bottom dollar that he is not going to be pleased with you stealing me away from him a second time."

Madame Kovarian laughed. "Dear child, if you think that your precious husband is going to find you here then you are mistaken. The Gamma Forests exist within a nebular sphere. Nothing can get through."

"We did," Amy pointed out.

"We know the secrets of the nebula," Kovarian answered. "Your Doctor does not."

"My Doctor knows everything," Amy countered. "He will find me, and then you will have to watch out."

Madame Kovarian shook her head, clearly dismissing Amy and her beliefs. "Now eat the food that the Gamma People have so graciously provided for us," she said sternly. "It would do you no good to starve yourself, and we wouldn't want that child of yours to be hurt either."

Amy's hands instinctually went to her stomach, earning another laugh from Kovarian. Amy didn't want to eat a thing, just out of spite, but after hearing a grumble in her stomach, and feeling the baby kick, Amy knew that she would have to eat something. Amy looked at the plate before her and saw that it looked to be something like rice and bread. "I like bread," she whispered to herself as she took a bite. But the minute she did so she felt as though she was eating tar, not that she knew what tar tasted like, but if it had a taste, it would have tasted like the bread.

"What's the matter?" asked Madame Kovarian is a lazy voice.

"Nothing," Amy assured as turned her attention to the rice. "Rice is good," she muttered to herself. "Rice will be very good." But again, as soon as the little bits of rice touched her mouth, Amy felt as though she was going to gag. They didn't taste like rice at all, or tar luckily, but they had a putrid taste that Amy couldn't put a name to.

"I hate to be rude," she said aloud, catching Madame Kovarian's eye. "But I don't like this."

"No?" Madame Kovarian asked, although her tone made it see as though she wasn't surprised.

"No," Amy assured. "I know that pregnant women have cravings for certain foods and are repulsed by others but this is bread and rice we're talking about. There's nothing wrong about that."

"No," Madame Kovarian agreed. "No there's not... what would you like Amy?"

Amy thought for a minute, trying to think of all the foods that she really liked, but every time she thought of something, whether it be pie or pancakes, she felt this horrible revulsion in her stomach. "Think Amelia," she chastised herself. "What do you want? What do you need?"

_Fish fingers and custard,_ came the curt reply and it was one that nearly bowled Amy over. Fish fingers and custard? She hated fish fingers and custard, why on earth would she want fish fingers and custard while not wanting anything else.

"Because," came a quiet voice in her head. "It's what I want."

Amy blinked and tried to figure out where the voice was coming from but no one had spoken.

"Please," the voice asked again. "I want fish fingers and custard."

"Oh my god," Amy almost choked out, but kept it within her mind. "You're my baby."

"Yes," came it's small reply.

"I'm talking to my baby."

"Yes," the baby said again. "Now please... fish fingers and custard?"

"I'm sorry love," Amy apologized as she put her hands to her stomach. "But I don't think that the people of this forest have Fish Fingers and Custard for us to eat."

Amy could almost feel the pout of her child as it realized that it would go hungry for the time being. "Is there anything?" she asked hopefully. "Anything that would make you feel better?"

"Get us away from that evil woman," the baby asked. "We don't like her."

"No," Amy agreed silently. "We do not."

"Well Amelia?" Kovarian asked with a smirk. "What shall it be."

"I think that I'd rather go hungry thank you very much," Amy said curtly.

"And risk harm to your baby?"

Amy kept her face as still as stone and did not flinch.

Madame Kovarian sighed. "Very well. Take her back to her cell."

…

The Doctor crouched down low and watched as Amy was taken to her cell. He checked his watch and realized that it was coming on night in the Gamma forest, with the sun down and almost everyone asleep, the next couple hours were going to be the perfect time to rescue his wife. The Doctor looked down at little Lorna and couldn't help but be reminded of her grown up self who had died protecting Amy and their unborn child. He knew by the fact that grown-up Lorna had known where they had taken Amy that everything was going to work out fine but all the same he didn't want the little girl anywhere near the battle he was sure that was going to be fought.

"Okay Lorna, I've got two very important things to tell you."

"What's that Doctor?" she asked, eyes wide with wonderment and absolute trust.

"First I want to tell you that you've been brilliant. Thank you so much."

"You're very welcome Doctor. And second?"

"Second I want you to go home."

Lorna's face fell. "Home?"

The Doctor nodded. "I'm going to get Amy back but I don't want you to get hurt."

"But you're going to need me," Lorna insisted. "You're going to need me to help you get her out of there."

"Lorna,"

"They've taken her to the hollow tree probably," Lorna continued. "It's the safest place in all the Gamma Forests. Only a Gammanite can open the door from the outside when someone is inside."

"So does that mean that they have some of your people working for them?"

Lorna nodded. "I know they do."

The Doctor sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He didn't want Lorna to help him, but after what she had told him, he realized that he didn't have a choice in the matter. "Alright then," he agreed. "We wait until nightfall."

…

At first Amy wasn't sure what she was seeing, but then she watched as the trunk of the tree opened and she was shoved inside. In the darkness, Amy felt fear constricting her breathing, but the gentle kicking of her baby eventually soothed her frayed nerves. Do not be afraid, the baby whispered to her. All will be alright.

"But how?" Amy whispered, placing her hands on her stomach. "How do you know?"

Because I can see memories of my father, the baby replied. I know that he will come for us. He will never stop.

"Yeah," Amy agreed as she closed her eyes in an attempt to forget that she was surrounded by darkness. "He will find us."

…

The Doctor and Lorna watched from their hiding spot as the guards thinned out. One by one they left to return to the tents that they were sleeping in and then there was only one guard standing in front of the tree that Lorna assured housed Amy. "Okay," the Doctor told Lorna in a very stern voice. "This is what's going to happen. I'm going to distract the guard and draw him away. You get Amy out and then meet me in the clearing just north of here, the one that we passed alright?"

"Alright Doctor," Lorna said.

"And remember to run," the Doctor told her. "Make sure that you don't get caught."

"Yes Doctor," Lorna promised as the Doctor took off through the bushes. Though she was short, she could just make his figure out in the darkness. A pale green light and an odd humming noise suddenly filled the forest and Lorna watched at the guard wandered away from his post. Knowing that this was her chance she snuck towards the tree, prepared to rescue the girl on the other side.

…

Amy had no idea how much time she had been sleeping, but she was sure that it hadn't been very long when all of a sudden she was awoken by the voice of a small child. "Wake up!" the child pleaded. "We need to get to the Doctor."

Amy's eyes flew open and she saw a little brown-haired girl standing before her. There was something familiar about the girl, but Amy couldn't place it. So instead she asked a question; "Did you say the Doctor?"

"Yes," the girl assured. "He's waiting for us. Hurry…!"

Amy hoisted herself to her feet and followed the little girl into the forest. The girl seemed to know where she was going so Amy didn't question that. What she did question was who the girl was. "What's your name?" she asked.

"Lorna," the girl replied. "Lorna Bucket."

At once Amy realized who the girl was and who she would grow up to be. She smiled and continued to follow Lorna through the trees. Soon they came to the edge of a clearing. Lorna stopped and looked around, and Amy could see her brow furrowing in confusion. "I don't understand," she said. "The Doctor said that he'd be here."

"Well maybe he's hiding like us," Amy suggested. "I could call out to him."

"No!" Lorna whispered in a terrified voice. "We do not want to draw our attention to ourselves. The Gamma Forests while being a beautiful place to see during the day hold many dangers at night."

Amy nodded, and decided that it would be best to stand right where she was instead of barging into a situation that she knew relatively little about. The minutes passes in an uneasy quiet silence and Amy was just wondering whther or not she should sit down, when suddenly the sound of the sonic screwdriver came to her ears and she saw the Doctor bounding into the clearning, with several guards approaching from the other edge.

"Pond, if you're out there give a shout!" he called out.

"Here!" she cried stepping into the clearing enough for him to see her. Even though the night was dark, the light of the two moons illuminated the clearing quite clearly and as soon as the Doctor saw his wife, he ran to her. He collided with her and embraced her all the while fiddling with his sonic screwdriver behind her back.

"What are you doing?" she asked as she held on to him tight.

"Just got to check one thing…" he said as he changed the setting. "…and yes. Okay. Lorna," he said with a smile as he bent down to the little girl. "Thank you so much, but you better run home now."

Lorna nodded and took off running through the forest.

Amy then turned to the Doctor who took her by the hand and then led her around the outside of the clearing, the two guards running in the opposite direction to them. "Why aren't they chasing us?" Amy asked.

"Gave them a little probe to follow instead," the Doctor replied, gripping Amy's hand a little tighter. "You okay?" he asked.

Amy nodded and kept her eyes to the ground as they walked on the forest path. "Yeah, think so."

"I'm so sorry for before," the Doctor apologized. "I should have known,"

"You have nothing to be sorry for," she assured as she stopped suddenly to give her husband a kiss. "You came and rescued me, like I knew you would."

The Doctor grinned. "And I know that you're the real you this time."

"Is that what you were doing with the sonic?" she asked as they continued walking.

"It was indeed," the Doctor replied. "Had to be sure you know."

Amy grinned before becoming serious again. "Doctor why is she doing this?"

The Doctor shrugged his shoulders. "I have no idea," he admitted. "She said that she wanted to make our baby into a weapon,"

"Weapon?" Amy asked fearfully. "What sort of weapon?"

"I don't know."

"A weapon against whom?" The Doctor stopped in his tracks and looked at his wife guiltily and without having to say anything, Amy knew. "Oh god," she whispered in horror, her hand flying to her mouth. "They're after you."

"Yes," the Doctor confirmed. "They are."

"But why?"

The Doctor shrugged his shoulders and continued walking. "They say that they're in a war against me."

"But you only fight against people who are bad," Amy insisted. "Like the Daleks."

"Bad is a matter of perspective Amy," came a voice to their left. The Doctor and Amy froze momentarily as they saw Madame Kovarian come through the shadows.

"Run!" the Doctor ordered, taking Amy by the hand and leading her from the path.

The guards of Madame Kovarian started to follow but she held them back. "Follow the path," she told them. "They're heading to the TARDIS, we'll cut them off there."

…

Deep in the Gamma Forests, the Doctor stopped and looked around. There was no sign of Madame Kovarian or her henchmen. "I think we've lost him," he said with a sigh of relief.

"Good," Amy replied with a sigh herself. "I'm exhausted…"

The Doctor turned just in time to see Amy lean against a glowing tree. Before he could warn her, before he could get to her, she was consumed by a bright light which vanished as quick as it had started leaving Amy to stumble back into her husbands arms.

"You okay?" he asked fearfully.

Amy looked at the Doctor. "What was that?"

"Oh this is bad," the Doctor muttered as he scanned the tree while holding Amy in his arms. "Very bad."

"Doctor," she began. "I don't understand and—" she paused and looked to the tree, just as a naked woman stepped forward. "—River?"

"River," the Doctor confirmed as he averted his eyes.

"River? Is that my name?"

Amy looked at River and then, wrenched the Doctor's tweed jacket from him and placed it around her shoulders, so the girl wasn't completely starker. "Yes," the Doctor confirmed. "River Song. That's your name."

"And who am I?" she asked, her curly hair blowing in the gentle breeze that was beginning to blow.

"Why you're—"

"Amy!" the Doctor said, cutting her off. He had been willing to give her the name that she called herself by, but only because she had heard them call her that. The Doctor was not willing to tell her anything else. "Spoilers."

"Spoilers?" River asked, crinkling her nose. "I don't like spoilers."

The Doctor couldn't help but smiling wryly. This was River's first meeting with him. She had no idea who she was or where she was or what she was doing in the forest and yet she still was the River that he had come to know. "I understand," he said sympathetically. "But you see, we're time travelers and—"

"Time?" River asked, her eyes wide. "I want to travel through time. I want to know what's out there."

"Can we take her with us Doctor?" Amy asked.

The Doctor was rather confused as to whether he should or shouldn't. He had no idea what River's early days with him were like, they had never talked about it because he was in his own early days with her, but he figured that it couldn't hurt to at least take her back to the TARDIS. The Doctor wanted to run some tests on her anyways. "Sure," he said with a gulp of uncertainty. "Why not."

River's face broke out into a grin. "Wonderful," she said with a smile. "Which way?"

"That way," the Doctor said.

River grinned. "And who are you?"

"I'm the Doctor," he introduced.

"And I'm Amy," she said with a smile.

"I guess I'm River," River stated. "Aren't I?"

Amy and the Doctor looked to each other.

"Don't feel bad," River insisted. "I like the name. River Song," she paused and grinned. "Shall we get going? I like this jacket but it is rather drafty."

…

The Doctor, Amy and River made their way quietly through the forest. Soon the TARDIS was in sight and the minute they stepped onto the path where it had been parked Madame Kovarian and her henchmen surrounded them. "Well, well, well," the one-eyed lady said with a smile. "Caught you at last."

"Let us go Kovarian," the Doctor said. "You've lost."

Madame Kovarian shook her head. "I don't think so. I need your baby."

"Over my dead body," Amy growled.

"That can be arranged," Madame Kovarian promised as she raised a gun to fire at Amy.

"No!" the Doctor cried out.

"Don't!" River pleaded. She didn't know who she really was, but she knew that Amy and the Doctor had been kind her her and she wasn't about to see them die. "Please."

"I'm not losing my spaceman," Madame Kovarian said through gritted teeth.

Amy and the Doctor exchanged a look, wondering if the child that had been calling out for help had really been their child.

"What if I take Amy's place?" River asked, stepping forward.

"And why would I want you?" Kovarian asked.

"My name is River Song," River introduced.

Madame Kovarian lowered the weapon a little, her eyes wide. "Are you really?"

River nodded. "I am, or at least, that's what I've been told," she paused and glanced to Amy and the Doctor. "Let them get to their TARDIS, and I'll come with you."

Madame Kovarian paused for a moment, clearly considering the offer and then she nodded. "Deal."

"No!" Amy cried out.

"No," the Doctor insisted. "You can't have her."

"Doctor please," River begged. "Let me save you."

"River," the Doctor pleaded himself. "Don't go with her."

Tears sprung to River's eyes, "I so wish that I could travel with you…"

"You have," Amy blurted out. "Or at least you will, in the future that is. Your future."

River smiled and glanced at Madame Kovarian before looking at her friends. "Nice to know I have a future."

"River," the Doctor persisted. "You don't have to do this."

"I do," River assured before smiling at him. "Thank you Doctor."

"For what?" he asked. "I haven't done anything."

"You gave me a name," River said with a smile.

River paused and gave Amy a hug. "Take care of your baby,"

"I will," she promised.

"As much as I love painful goodbyes, we have to get going." Madame Kovarian cut in.

River gave them both one last smile before turning and walking towards the enemy. Before the Doctor or Amy could do or even say anything else, Madame Kovarian and her henchmen along with River beamed away. Leaving Amy and the Doctor alone in the forest.

"Come on," he whispered finally as he took Amy by the hand. "Let's go…"

…

"Doctor," Amy began as the TARDIS took off. "Are we going to go after her?"

He didn't say anything, he just shook his head.

"What?" she exclaimed. "But we have to, it's River."

"I thought you didn't like River."

Amy crossed her arms. "It's not that I don't like River, I just don't like how she flirts with you," she admitted. "But you're married to me so I have nothing to worry about."

"Excatly," the Doctor agreed.

"Which is exactly why we need to go after her."

"Which is exactly why we can," the Doctor insisted.

"Why?" Amy asked. "I don't understand."

"This is the beginning of River Song," the Doctor explained. "We know too much about her future."

"But—"

"I have a feeling that this was always supposed to happen."

"I know but the spaceman," Amy pointed out. "The little girl…"

"There was no little girl," the Doctor interrupted. "Just the spaceman."

Amy's brow furrowed and she realized that her memories were being rewritten, though she knew that the original time in 1969 there had been a little girl asking for their help. "We just changed the future," Amy whispered. "That was our little girl, wasn't it?"

The Doctor nodded. "I think so," he said. "But it's not now."

Amy shook her head, trying to clear the confusion. "Doctor how did River step out of that tree?" she asked.

The Doctor sighed. "She stepped out of that tree because you touched it."

"I don't understand,"

"Those trees are how the people of the Gamma Forests procreate," the Doctor explained. "If two people want to have a child they each touch a hand to the tree and out pops a baby as if they had given birth to it itself. But if one person touches the tree then their DNA is split and halved and then recombined to make a new adult person."

"So you're saying that River is me," Amy said, her eyes wide with disbelief. "I'm River?"

"You're not River," the Doctor promised. "But she is made up of you."

Amy shook her head, having a hard time wrapping her mind around that. "So it's River, but it's me… but it's River…" Amy paused and looked up at the Doctor. "Guess that's why she loves you," Amy suggested. "Because I love you."

The Doctor nodded. "Quite possibly."

"And we're not going to find her?"

"She'll find us," the Doctor assured. "As she always does."

"And… will she be alright?" Amy asked, biting her lower lip. "I mean, it's Madame Kovarian."

The Doctor sighed. "I don't know, but I think that River'll be able to hold her own."

…

Thousands of lightyears away and into the future, one River Song was sitting in front of a screen listening to one voice over and over again as it talked over the same images. "You will kill the Doctor. The Doctor is our enemy. You will kill the Doctor. The Doctor is our enemy."

"No," River whimpered, shutting her eyes. "I won't, I won't kill him."

"You will kill the Doctor," the voice repeated. "The Doctor is our enemy."

"No," she insisted, struggling against the bonds which prevented her from covering her ears as well. "No…"

"She is strong," remarked a soldier who stood watching the scene from behind a piece of glass.

"I would expect nothing else of her," Kovarian agreed.

"But will she cave?"

"She will," Kovarian assured. "It's only a matter of time."

TBC


	28. The Girls Who Waited

DISCLAIMER: The characters of DOCTOR WHO do not belong to me. They belong to the BBC & Steven Moffat. I'm just borrowing them for a while.

_Author's Note: Okay, so how AWESOME was "The Wedding of River Song"? As far as finale's go I think that it was one of the best. I loved it, and I can't wait to rewrite it or the episodes leading up to it. So please, enjoy this chapter and leave a review for the longest chapter yet! Oh, and in case you haven't noticed, I re-wrote the first chapter. Take a look and let me know what you think!_

**Chapter 28: The Girls Who Waited **

It was about a week after the events of the Gamma Forest and the Battle of Demon's Run and aside from running a scan on Amy to ensure that she was all right, the Doctor hadn't really spoken of what had happened at all. For Amy that was quite alright because aside from the fact that she wanted to tell the Doctor that she had communicated with their baby, she really didn't want to talk about what had happened at all.

They spent the vast majority of their time in their room, and while the Doctor was enjoying the time that he was spending with Amy— she was getting rather restless. The Doctor, being the man that he was could sense this and when he questioned her on what she was feeling, she told him. "I'm just getting a little bored," she admitted. "Not that I don't like just lying here with you and talking but—"

"You're going a little stir crazy," the Doctor finished.

"Yeah," Amy agreed. "Stir crazy. Can we go to a planet or something?"

"Amy," he chastised. "In your condition."

"I'm only pregnant," she pointed out.

"Yes but I have no idea when you're going to go into labour," the Doctor explained. "There haven't been any human-time lord babies in, well as long as I can remember. It's already been seven months, you could drop at any minute."

"Well who's to say that this baby isn't more human than time lord," Amy asked. "I could have two more months to go"

"Yes," the Doctor agreed. "I suppose you could…"

"So then let's go."

"What if you do go into labour soon?" he asked. "I don't want to risk you having our baby in a place that isn't well equipped to handle such a circumstance."

"You'll be there," Amy pointed out. "You'll be able to take care of me."

"Amelia Pond, I'm not THAT kind of Doctor and you know it," he reminded her. "Are you sure that you wouldn't want to just sit back and relax?"

"I've had enough relaxing," Amy complained. "I want to do something exciting. Please, let's go somewhere new. It doesn't have to be dangerous, just pretty. I'm itching to see something new with my own eyes. It's been so long…."

The Doctor sighed and nodded. He knew that it was better to give into his wife now when she was still in a relatively good mood instead of waiting and risking her wrath. "Alright," he said with another sigh as he got up off the bed, searching through the mess of things that he had collected from all of time and space for his bowtie and suspenders. "Did you have any ideas?"

Amy shook her head gleefully. "Oh no ideas," she assured him with a smile as the Doctor found his dark navy bowtie and matching suspenders. When he put them on, Amy couldn't help but noticing for the umpteenth time how handsome her husband was, but she also noticed that something was different.

"You're missing your jacket you know," she pointed out. "You gave yours to River, and you got that one from the hospital during that thing with the Atraxi. Do you have duplicates in that closet of yours?"

The Doctor grinned sheepishly. "That jacket was one of a kind, I'll have to go to the closet to look out a new one."

"Can I come with you?" Amy asked. "I'm not a fan of this maternity dress."

The Doctor frowned; she was wearing a simple dress with flowers on it. He thought it looked good on her; after all he had picked it out himself. "You don't like it?"

"It's not like I don't like it," she assured. "It's just not very suitable to go to a new time or place, don't you think?"

The Doctor nodded and took her by the hand. "Come on then," he said with a smile. "Let's go then."

The Doctor helped Amy to her feet. Together they made their way to the huge multi-storied closet and while the Doctor went one way towards the Jackets, Amy went another and changed into a set of leggings which accommodated her belly and a sweatshirt which complemented the ensemble. She took a pair of leather flats for her feet and then waited for her Doctor by the door.

"Doctor!" she called out impatiently.

"Here," he said cheerily in a forest green jacket.

"It suits you," Amy said with an approving smile. "You look sexy."

"Thank you," the Doctor said with a smile. "It's vintage nineteen-forty. Borrowed it off a mate of mine in the era and…" he paused when he noticed the look on Amy's face. "What?" he asked.

"You like to borrow things,"

The Doctor blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Well you borrowed the TARDIS," Amy pointed out. "And you borrowed those clothes from the hospital… and you borrowed me."

"Borrowed you?" the Doctor asked.

"Well, you made me run away with you on the night before my wedding," she said with a smile as she took the Doctor's hands. "And you know what?"

"What's that?" he asked.

"I'm so very glad that you did," she said as she kissed him.

The Doctor kissed her back and then buried his face in her hair. "I am so sorry Amy," he apologized. "So very sorry."

"Sorry?" she asked as she pulled away. "Sorry for what?"

"For letting you get away, for letting Madame Kovarian take you."

Amy gave him a sympathetic smile before kissing him on the cheek. "It wasn't your fault, there wasn't anything that you could do."

"I know," the Doctor said. "But I still feel guilty."

"It all worked out alright though didn't it," Amy asked. "I'm here."

"Yes," he agreed. "It most certainly did."

Amy grinned. "Now, planet?"

The Doctor nodded. "As you wish."

…

They got to the console room and the Doctor pulled some leavers and the TARDIS shuddered to a stop. "Appalappachia," he said with a grin.

"Say it again?" asked Amy.

"Appalappachia."

"Appalappu…?"

"Appalappachia."

"Appalappachia," Amy said at last. "What a beautiful word."

"Beautiful word, beautiful world. Appalappachia was voted the number two planet in the top ten greatest destinations for the discerning intergalactic traveller in the forty-second century."

Amy frowned. "Why couldn't we go to number one?"

"It's hideous," he replied. "Everyone goes to number one. Awful place, that planet of the coffee shops but Appalappachia has sunsets, spires, soaring silver colonnades."

Amy giggled. "What else?"

"It has rainbow clouds and purple skies. Magenta oceans and a breeze that smells like cinnamon."

"Cinnamon?" Amy asked as the Doctor led her to the door. "Really?"

"Course," he assured. "I'd never lie to you, just see for yourself."

The Doctor opened the doors to the TARDIS and Amy looked out. "Doors."

The Doctor looked out. "Doors. Yes I give you doors," he said as he stepped past Amy. "But on the other side of those doors, I give you sunsets, spires, soaring silver colonnades… I just got us a little off course."

Amy rolled her eyes. "What else is new?"

The Doctor scanned the room with his sonic. "We're still on Appalappachia," he confirmed. "So there must be an exit around here somewhere."

Amy pointed to the door across from the TARDIS. "There?"

The Doctor nodded. "Yes, yes. Good idea. Let's…" he paused and noticed that instead of joining him, Amy had gone further inside the TARDIS. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Getting my phone," she answered.

"You're phone?" the Doctor asked. "Your mobile telephone?"

"Yeah," Amy replied. "What's wrong with that."

"I bring you to a paradise planet, two billion light years away from Earth and you want to update Twitter?"

"Sunsets, spires and soaring silver colonnades," Amy answered. "I want to take pictures of them. So do you know where it is?"

The Doctor smiled sheepishly. "It's on the counter, by the DVD's."

Amy gave the Doctor an air kiss. "Thanks sweetie."

Amy disappeared and the Doctor couldn't help but notice the similarity in the tone and inflection when she said 'sweetie'. The Doctor heard River in that inflection, which he supposed wasn't all that strange considering the fact that Amy was River and River was Amy in a sense.

The Doctor put that thought out of his mind however and left Amy to get her phone. He walked to the door, hit the green anchor button and went inside a room. He figured that no harm could come from him exploring a little right away after all, Amy was right behind him. However when Amy came out of the TARDIS with her phone she noticed that the Doctor was gone. She got to the door and wondered how she was supposed to get in.

"Doctor," she called. "It's locked."

"You have to push the button," the Doctor called back.

Amy reached to the panel with the two buttons and pressed the red one without really thinking about it. The doors opened and she found that instead of seeing the Doctor, she saw nothing but an empty room. "Doctor?" she asked as the doors shut.

…

Meanwhile, the Doctor looked to the door expectantly, but no Amy came in. The Doctor sighed and went to the door and opened it expecting to see Amy on the other side. But there was no Amy. He let the doors closed and looked back to the magnifying glass. He had a sneaking suspicion that the spy-glass would help him and so he pressed the green button on it and watched as Amy's face appeared.

"Amy…" he said as he sat down. "Where are you."

"Where am I?" she asked. "Where are you?"

The Doctor opened his mouth to answer but the door opened and a white hand bot came in. The Doctor couldn't help but shudder a little at the blank face, and he knew that he would have to stay away from the hands. "Hands!" he exclaimed as he stood up. "Hello Hands. Hand-bot with hands."

"Welcome to the Two-Streams Facility," the Hand Bot said. "Will you be visiting long?"

"Doctor?" came Amy's worried voice. "Something's happening."

The Doctor looked from the Bot to the spy-glass and saw that the picture was going all fuzzy. "Amy," he said worriedly as he soniced the glass, trying to get the picture back. "Stay calm. Stay still. Ah!" he groaned as he realized what was going on. "Time's gone all wobbly… I hate when it does that."

"Will you be visiting long?" the Hand Bot asked again.

"Hand on, I mean, hang on," the Doctor said as he got the picture back, noticing with some uneasiness that his wife was sitting in the corner. "It's okay," he assured. "I've got you back Amy."

"It's about time," she said as she sat down in front of her spy-glass. "Where have you been?"

"What do you mean?" the Doctor asked.

"Well it's been a week," Amy said, looking very cross.

"A week!" the Doctor exclaimed in horror. "A week? Oh my, Amy I'm so sorry…" he scanned the glass once more and then hit his head with the sonic screwdriver once he interpreted the readings. "How did I not see this before? Same room… different time. Two timestreams, running parallel, but at different speeds and Amy you're in the fast timestream."

Amy's eyes widened. "So what do we do?"

"Will you be staying long?" the Hand-Bot asked once more.

"Yes," the Doctor said angrily. "As long as it takes."

The Hand-Bot fell silent and the Doctor turned to Amy.

"What did you do?"

Amy shrugged her shoulders. "I just, I came in, and I pressed the door button."

The Doctor looked to his left and saw the green anchor symbol, he then looked past Amy and saw the red waterfall sign behind her. He then turned behind to look at the symbol on his wall and realized that it was a green leaf. "Oh Amy," he sighed. "You pressed the wrong button."

"I pressed the red waterfall."

"And I pressed the green leaf," he answered. "Go out and press the green leaf."

Amy nodded and left the viewer. Moments later she had returned. "You weren't in that room either," she said crossly.

"Then wait at the TARDIS."

"The TARDIS isn't there." Amy said. "What are we going to do?"

"I don't know," the Doctor admitted. "But I'll think of something."

"Doctor," Amy began suddenly, with a twinge of pain. "I think it's time."

"No!" the Doctor ordered. "It can't be time yet."

Amy just glared at the Doctor. "You tell the baby that then."

"Amy, you're going to think that this is crazy but you've got to listen to me," the Doctor said. "You're giving birth to a Time – Lord baby, you should be able to communicate with it if you think really hard."

"I know," Amy said with a gasp. "The baby spoke to me in the forest."

"Good," the Doctor said with a nod. "Now you're going to have to reach out to the baby. Tell it that you're not ready to give birth and that it should wait until you are."

Amy nodded and closed her eyes. There were a couple terrifying moments for the Doctor when he wondered whether or not it was working, but then Amy's eyes opened. "Okay," she said with a smile. "It's done. She's going to wait."

"She?" the Doctor asked in awe. "We're going to have a daughter?"

Amy nodded. "Yeah, we are."

The Doctor was awe-struck. "A daughter…" he murmured. "I can't believe it. We're going to have a daughter. What are we going to name her? I suppose we could call her Amelia after you. Or we could call her Sardit, it's an anagram of the TARDIS but then again that sounds like sardine and I doubt our daughter wants to be called sardine and…"

"Doctor," Amy interrupted. "Enough babbling."

"Sorry," he apologized. "I'm just excited. Aren't you excited?"

"I am," Amy assured.

"You don't seem like it."

"Doctor I'm stuck here until you get me," she pointed out.

"Right," the Doctor agreed, standing up. "I'm on my way."

"Do you have any questions?" asked the Hand-Bot.

"Yes," the Doctor said crossly. "Yes, how do I get to my wife? She's an alien, I'm an alien and she pressed the wrong button. We didn't know."

"Statement rejected," the Hand-Bot said tonelessly. "Do you have a question?"

"I have one," said Amy through the glass. "What is this place?"

"The Two Timestreams Facility was constructed because Appalappachia is under planet-wide quarantine. This is a kindness facility for those who were infected with Chen7."

The Doctors eyes widened. "Chen7?"

"Stick to the sterile areas and you shall remain clean," the Hand-Bot promised. "Visiting areas are now."

The Doctor let out a sigh of relief as the Hand-Bot disappeared. "I'm safe."

"You're safe? What about me?" she asked. "What's Chen7?"

"It's the one day plague."

"What, so you only get it for a day?" asked Amy.

"No. You get it and die in a day," the Doctor replied.

"So you're safe, what about me?"

"You're safe too," the Doctor assured. "Chen7 only affects two hearted races like Appalappachians."

"And you, 'cause you're a time lord," Amy added. Her eyes widened and her hands flew to her stomach. "What about our baby?"

The Doctor shook his head. "She might be half time-lord but she's got one heart," he said with another sigh of relief. "She should be fine."

Amy nodded. "So how are you going to get to me?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "In that facility, I'll be dead in a day. Time moves faster on your side and… wait. You've been there a week. What did you eat?"

"Nothing. I wasn't hungry."

The Doctor shook his head. "No, you didn't eat because the Red Waterfall time is compressed. That's the point, the Time Glass syncs up the timestreams for a visit. You could be here for a day and watch them live out their entire lives."

Amy's face crumbled. "That's horrible."

"Yes," the Doctor agreed. "But it's kind. You've got a choice here. You can either; sit by their bedside for twenty-four hours and watch them die, or you can sit inside here for twenty-four hours and watch them live. Which would you rather do?"

"I'd rather not be here at all," Amy snapped.

"Course," the Doctor said as he snatched up the glass.

…

Amy watched in horror as the glass disappeared. "Doctor?" she asked. "Doctor…" she pleaded, burying her face in her hands. "Don't leave me.

"I'm here Amy," came the Doctor's voice. "I'm right here."

"Where," Amy asked. "Am I looking at you?"

"Turn left," the Doctor ordered and Amy moved exactly as he asked till he told her to stop. "There," he said. "That's it."

"Eye to eye?" she asked.

"Eye to eye," his voice promised.

"Doctor," she said uncertainly, looking into nothingness. "I'm scared."

"I know," he said. "Now listen Amy, I'm taking the Time Glass back to the TARDIS. Like satnav, I'll use it to get a lock, then smash through, using the TARDIS to get you out. Until then, you're on your own…" he paused and Amy could hear the sonic screwdriver.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Locking onto you. Small act of vandalism, no one'll mind," his voice said as an alarm sounded. "Ah, that'll be the small act of vandalism alarm. Amy, I need you to go into the facility just for a bit. Find somewhere safe and leave me a sign. Remember, you're immune to Chen7, but don't let them give you anything. They don't know you're alien. Their kindness will kill you. Now go!"

Amy nodded, got up and pressed the 'check in' button, which caused the door to slide open. She then turned around to face where the Doctor's voice was coming from. "Doctor," she said quietly. "I love you. Now save me."

The doors closed and Amy made her way into the Twostreams facility. She was struck by how big it was, and how it seemed to be able to hold a lot of people yet Amy didn't see a single soul. Suddenly, as she was walking past an area that looked like an airport check-in, a beam of light hit her. "Welcome to the Twostreams Facility," said the computerized voice as the light disappeared.

"Erm, who are you?" asked Amy. "And why can't I see you?"

"I am the interface," said the computer as the light reappeared. "Between yourself and the systems of the Twostreams Facility. I will be your guide, your teacher, your friend."

"Welcome to Twostreams," said a hologram woman to Amy's right. "What is your name please?"

"Amy Pond," she answered. "Wife to the Doctor."

"Welcome Amy Pond, Wife to the Doctor I see that you're travelling alone. As a resident you will now have access to all of the entertainment zones inside. For a taste of adventure, why not try the mountain zone, and explore Appalappachia's famous Glasmir Mountains. Or try our roller-coaster zone, authentically modeled on the famous Warpspeed Death Ride at Disneyland, Clom. All that you could wish for and more is through the Departure Gate, provided for you with kindness."

The hologram turned off at that moment, and Amy decided that it would be best to continue walking. She walked into a new room, and saw one of the handbots patrolling. "Er, hello…" she greeted, causing the bot to turn around.

"Unexpected visitor," it stated. "Welcome. Please seek assistance."

"Um, can you help me find the Doctor?" she asked.

The bot raised a hand and scanned her. "You are carrying unregistered bacteria. Please, let me help you."

"Oi," Amy snapped, her hands on her stomach. "That's my baby you're talking about."

"Please," the bot repeated as it removed a syringe from its chest cavity. "Let me help you."

"No," Amy said as she took a step back. "I'm not from this world. Your medicine'll kill me, and my baby."

"Statement, rejected," said the bot. "Do not be alarmed, this is a kindness."

Amy knew that if she wanted her and her baby to survive, she would have to find a place to hide and so she ran. She ran through the facility, managing to hide from the bots in a vent-like thing in a place that she was pretty sure that she wasn't supposed to be near. She stayed there, hoping that she wasn't endangering her baby in anyway and repeated over and over again aloud to herself. "They couldn't see me… they couldn't see me…."

When the coast was clear, Amy made her way into a room with six doorways in it, though they seemed to lead to nowhere. She automatically knew that the doors would lead to somewhere, but she couldn't quite figure out how. "Interface?" she asked and a light shined down on her.

"I am here Amy Pond," it said.

"Shush!" she asked. "Turn that light off," Amy paused as the light disappeared. "So, what is this place? How does it work?"

"This is the Gate," the interface replied. "From here you may depart to any of Twostreams entertainment zones."

Amy started pressing the buttons, listening to what they were. The third one was the Garden and she decided to go through into there. A light passed through the doorway and it opened. Amy walked through the light and found herself in beautiful garden with towering green sculptures.

"Interface?" asked Amy, knowing that she probably wouldn't safe for long.

"Yes Amy Pond."

"I need somewhere safe to hide and wait for my friends. Where in Twostreams is safe?"

"Twostreams is a safe and nurturing environment."

"You know what I mean. Where can I go so the Handbots can't find me? Before, I was stood by a sort of vent, and there was light and smoke and the Handbots couldn't see me. Why not?" she asked, and when she wasn't answered Amy just rolled her eyes. "Okay, I'll put it another way. What were those vent thingies?"

"The vents channel the exhaust fumes from the temporal engines that hold the multiple timestreams in place."

"And these temporal engines mess up the Handbots' sensors. So where's the temporal engines?"

"Temporal engines held within."

Amy knew that hiding there would be the best thing and so she made her way there, avoiding the bots in the process and once she confirmed that the engines were indeed where she thought they were, she took out her lipstick and wrote on the door; Doctor. I'm in here, waiting. And then she drew an arrow to the handle.

Amy then went inside and waited…and waited…and waited.

…

The Doctor worked furiously around his console, he cross-wired everything he could think of in order to get enough power to punch through into the other time stream. The TARDIS was going to hate him afterwards, but the Doctor was willing to do anything and everything to get his wife back. Finally with a bit of luck, he broke through into the Red Waterfall area. The next order of business was to find something that would allow him to go into the facility and he fount it in the form of a mask, which covered his nose and mouth only. The Doctor put it on, held onto the time glass and then made his way out into the facility.

He walked through a gallery; admiring the replicas when suddenly a figure appeared to his right. "I come in peace!" he said holding up his hands as he stumbled to the ground. "Peace. I come in peace!"

The figure in armour with a white face, not unlike the bot stared down at him. "She waited for you," it said in a computer enhanced voice.

"Sorry?" the Doctor asked.

"She waited for you."

"Who are you?" asked the Doctor, scrambling to his feet. He watched as the woman pulled up her mask to reveal a woman that looked like Amy, but quite obviously wasn't Amy. "You're not—"

"Hello Doctor," she said in a scornful voice. "Or should I call you Daddy?"

"You're not…" the Doctor stuttered. "My daughter?"

"My name is Melody Pond," she said as she raised her sword.

"No," he pleaded. "Don't—"

"Duck," his daughter ordered and the Doctor did as he was told. His daughter put her sword through the bot's head and it fell behind them. "Handbots carry a black box in case they go offline. I've changed the cause of termination from hostile to accidental using Mum's sonic probe."

"What?" asked the Doctor. "Why?"

"It's the only way we've survived this long," Melody said

"We, so Amy's still here."

"Oh yeah," Melody said scornfully "You want to see her now?"

"If you don't mind."

"Well what gives you the right?" she asked. "You didn't save her."

"This is the saving," the Doctor insisted. "I just got the timing off."

"You always get the timing off," Melody snapped.

"Melody—"

"I don't want to talk to you," she snapped. "Mum and I have been on our own a long time. She's had decades to talk about you to me and while she's never waivered I found it hard to believe that you'd be coming once we entered decade four."

"Your forty?"

"Thirty-six actually," Melody hissed.

"Sorry… I just…" the Doctor sighed. "You're so angry."

"Yes. I am." Melody confirmed. "And you know what, it's because of you. You left us here. You made our lives here a living hell. I know that Mum loves you still but I don't. I hate you. And I wish you'd never come."

"Take me to your mother Melody."

"You're not my father," she snapped. "You can't tell me what to do."

"I am your father," the Doctor snapped right back.

"In name only maybe."

"Oh no," came a hauntingly familiar voice for the Doctor. "He is your father."

The Doctor turned and saw his Amy— a thirty-six year older Amy standing there. The Doctor felt his hearts bursting with love and guilt and he took Amy into his arms when she ran to him. "Oh Doctor," she cried, burying her face in his shoulder. "You came."

"Course I did," he said. "I promised that I would."

"I waited for you," she continued. "Thirty-six years."

"I'm sorry," the Doctor apologized. "I got the timing wrong."

"Thirty six years, three months, four days," Melody said scornfully. "Way wrong I'd say."

Amy pulled away from the Doctor and looked at their daughter. "Not now," she said in a matronly way. "And not here…" she paused and took the Doctor by the hand. "Come on," she said. "It's not safe here."

The Doctor, led by Amy and their daughter walked through the facility, with Melody muttering the entire way. The first question that Amy asked the Doctor was about his facemask, and once he explained that it allowed him to survive the plague that was floating around, she was very glad that he had it on, even if it meant that she couldn't snog him the way that she wanted to. As for the Doctor, he just had a very specific something on his mind and it wasn't for Amy… not yet anyways.

"One question," the Doctor asked as he turned to his daughter. "You made a sonic screwdriver?"

"Probe," Melody amended.

"Screwdriver," Amy corrected. "I made it."

The Doctor smiled at his wife. "That's my girl."

"Yes," she said with a smile as she pushed open two doors. "Now in here."

They made their way past some turbine-like things and then passed through a curtain that was made from many different things. The first thing that the Doctor saw was a hand bot. "Oh," he said with a start as the bot turned around to reveal a smiley face and a bowtie near the chin area.

"Don't worry about him," Amy said with a smile. "Sit down Doctor."

The Doctor and the bot both sat down. "You named him after me?" asked the Doctor, startled and guilty all the more by the revelation.

"Yeah," Amy said sheepishly. "I uh, needed someone to talk to."

"You had me mother," Melody griped as she sat down across from the Doctor.

"How did you make it safe?" the Doctor asked, ignoring his daughter's rudeness.

"I disarmed it," Amy replied, watching as the bot raised it's handless arms.

"You didn't…"

"Oh don't say that you wouldn't have done the same Dad."

The Doctor turned to Melody. "I wouldn't. I—"

"Don't you lecture me," she interrupted. "You haven't got the right. You're just a mad man in a blue box, flying through time and space on a whim. Not quite a father figure, are you? All I've had for thirty-six years is cold, hard reality."

The Doctor sighed in resignation. "Amy, Melody… I can put this right." Melody scoffed but Amy smiled. She then looked to her watch. "Come on," she said with a smile. "The garden'll be clear now." Amy held out her hand which the Doctor gladly took. "You coming?" she asked Melody.

Her daughter nodded reluctantly. "Course."

Together they walked out of her hideaway and along the corridors and when they got to the garden the Doctor turned to Amy. "Can I speak to the interface?" asked the Doctor. "Will it talk to me?"

Amy nodded. "Should do. When I first came here, I had to trick it into giving me the information that I wanted, now it'll tell me anything except how to escape."

"You hacked it?" asked the Doctor. "That's amazing."

Amy blushed. "Thanks. Now you said that you've got a plan?"

The Doctor shook his head. "I'll have a plan. The Temporal Engines are a good start. They have a regulator valve, which has to be kept from the main reactor or there's feedback. Interface, where's the regulator?"

"The regulator valve, is held within," said the interface, showing the Doctor.

"Ah! Oh, very, very "ah!" Interface, I need to run through some technical specifications…" the Doctor started to ramble and Amy turned to Melody who was hanging back.

"You know," she whispered to her daughter. "You could be nicer to him."

"Nicer to him?" asked Melody. "He abandoned us."

"No," Amy insisted. "He's here, just like I said he would."

"Thirty six years…"

"He left me for fourteen," she reminded her daughter. "But he came for me."

"How can you forgive him?" asked Melody angrily.

"I chose him," Amy said simply. "I love him…" she paused and glanced over to the Doctor who was busy rambling away. "…he's my Raggedy Doctor. The imaginary friend that I had when I was a kid… I love him with everything in my soul and—"

"Okay," the Doctor interrupted. "So here's the plan. Time is always a bit wobbly, but in here, it's extra wubbly. I've worked out how to hijack the temporal engines and then fold two points of Amy's timeline together. We're bringing her out of the then and into the now! Amy, I just need to borrow your brain a minute, it won't hurt, probably - almost probably... and then my wife…" he paused taking Amy by the hands. "I'm going to save you."

Amy grinned up at her Doctor.

"No!" exclaimed Melody. "And time's up. The bots are coming."

The trio walked back through the facility with Amy and the Doctor trying to knock some sense into their daughter. "Melody, we need to do this."

"No," she said again as they re-entered their sanctuary.

"Why won't you let us help you?"

"If you get mother before I'm born, I'll cease to exist."

"You'll still be born," the Doctor assured.

"But I won't be the same," Melody pointed out. "I won't have lived this life."

"That's good," Amy pointed out.

"We'll die," Melody continued. "Another Melody will take my place. Another Amy will take yours and in thirty-six years neither of us will be us…" she paused and cast a glance to the Doctor. "…if we're even still alive."

"We'll die in here eventually," Amy argued.

Melody took a deep breath and then looked to her father. "Not if he takes us with you…" she paused and strode right up to her father. "You came to rescue us, so rescue us now. Take us back into the TARDIS with you."

"Could you do that?" asked Amy. "Take us both?"

The Doctor shook his head. "The paradox would kill the TARDIS."

"What about one of us?" asked Amy. "Could you save Melody? This Melody?"

"You wouldn't want to come with me?" asked the Doctor.

Amy shook her head.

"Why not?"

"I'm not your Amy anymore. Being here is all wrong," she answered. "I don't want these memories."

"But what about me?" asked Melo..dy. "Do the memories we made together mean so little to you?"

"No of course not," Amy assured. "But Melody, think… I've lived a lifetime without my husband. I don't want that memory… and knowing that you're alive, well that's enough for me."

Melody shook her head and walked to a far corner of the little room to sit down. Amy and the Doctor just looked to each other wen all of a sudden a crying came through the glass.

"What is that?" asked Amy.

"That's you," said the Doctor as he raised it, pointing his screwdriver at it for a bit. "In the past."

...

Amy couldn't stop herself from crying. She was so alone, and so scared and she couldn't talk to her baby anymore and then she heard it. "In the past."

"Doctor?" she asked through the sniffles. "Is that you?"

"Here," he said. "I'm here."

"Where are you love?" she asked looking into the glass that appeared.

"Same place as you," the Doctor said. "Just ahead."

"I remember this," came a voice that Amy recognized. She peered through the glass and saw herself. "That's me."

"That's me," said Amy in an echo as a second female joined her doppleganger in the glass. "And…" she continued putting her hands to her stomach. "Not my baby."

"Hello mother," Melody said with a sheepish grin. "I'm Melody."

Amy couldn't help but cry a little more. "So nice to meet you,"

"Yeah," Melody said with a small smile of her own.

"But why are you still there?" asked Amy.

"Because he leave you," said her future self sadly. "He gets into his TARDIS and flies away."

Amy shook her head. "Not my Doctor. Not ever. He said he'd save me and I believe him. If he didn't save me then there was a good reason."

Future Amy nodded. "There was."

"What?" asked Amy thoroughly horrified.

"It was Melody," future Amy answered. "She convinced the Doctor and future me, now me to go. And they did."

Amy shook her head. "Why would he do that?"

"If you escape, then I was never trapped here, the last 36 years of my life rewrites, and I cease to exist. That's why Old Me refused to help then... that's why I'm refusing to help now... and that's why you'll refuse to help when it's your turn. Nothing you can say will change that."

Amy shook her head. "What about the Doctor."

"What about him?" asked future Amy

"I love him," Amy answered. "You love him."

"So?" asked Melody.

"So we made a choice once," Amy continued. "We could have chosen a normal life but we didn't. We chose him."

"Yeah," future Amy agreed. "We did."

"Why?" asked Melody curiously.

"Because I've always loved him," said the two Amy's together.

"Yes," Amy agreed. "Please… save ourselves for him."

Future Amy just looked at her past self. "You're asking me to defy destiny, causality, the nexus of time itself for… the Doctor?"

Amy nodded. "You're mad, impossible Pond, and he's the raggedy Doctor…" Amy answered. "Course I am."

Future Amy looked away with tears in her eyes. "Alright. I'll do it."

…

"No!" exclaimed Melody. "I don't want to die."

"You won't die," Amy assured. "And neither will I…" she paused and looked to the Doctor. "We'll both live the lives that we were supposed to."

Melody didn't look convinced, but then she looked at how her parents were staring at each other, and final she nodded. "Alright. Let's do this."

"And no crazy paradoxes?"

Melody shook her head. "Wouldn't want to break the TARDIS now."

"Okay," said Amy as she strode out of what had been her home. "So this is big news, this is temporal earthquake time. I am now officially changing my own future. Hold on to your spectacles. In my past, I saw my future self refuse to help you. I'm now changing that future and agreeing. Every law of time says that shouldn't be possible."

"Yes, except sometimes knowing your own future is what enables you to change it, especially if you're bloody minded, contradictory and completely unpredictable."

Amy laughed. "You mean mad and impossible?"

The Doctor nodded. "Yes. If anyone could defeat pre-destiny it's you."

They got to where they needed to go, which was just outside the doors to the engines the Doctor explained to future Amy and past Amy that they would have to focus on a memory, a very powerful memory and while the Doctor pulled the levers necessary to bring past Amy into the present the Amy before him began to speak and through the time glass, past Amy— his Amy— was doing the same.

"Doctor…my raggedy Doctor. You dropped in from the sky in that mad blue box of yours and changed my world. Yes, you made me wait for fourteen years but you're right it was well worth the wait. Every day that passed made me love you more and I am so thankful that you have brought me into your world. I love you Doctor. I always have and I always will and while I know that my forever won't be as long as yours, I will love you forever."

With 'forever' being uttered, his Amy was brought into the present. "Amy," he muttered. Amy turned, and allowed the Doctor to embrace her. "My Amy. I'm so sorry. So very sorry."

"Run," said future Amy drawing her sword, Melody doing the same as an army of hand bots came walking towards them. "Run. Quickly."

The Doctor, Melody and the two Amy's ran as quickly as they could, taking the back exit in several places until they came to the TARDIS. Older Amy fell to the bots as they came to the room where the TARDIS was and while the Doctor wanted to stop for his wife, he knew that he had worry about the 'real' Amy— the past Amy— first. Together they made it into the TARDIS and Amy held out her hand for Melody.

"Come on," she said, not caring about the paradox. "Mels, come on."

Melody was just coming to the door when the Doctor shut it.

"Dad!" she exclaimed from the other side. "Let me in."

"Doctor…"

"There can't be two Melodies," the Doctor said.

"But she's our daughter."

"That one," the Doctor said before putting his hands on her stomach. "Or this one. You've got to choose."

Amy chocked back sobs. "That's not fair."

"No," the Doctor agreed. "But it's the way this is."

Amy shook her head and turned back to the door. "Melody…"

"Mummy," she cried. "Please. I don't want to die."

"I'm… I'm sorry," Amy choked out. "I can't bring you with me. But you'll still be with me. You know that there are some things more important than our own well being… stopping a paradox is one of them."

Amy could hear her grown up daughter crying on the other end. "Tell Melody, your Melody when she's old enough to understand that I'm giving her the days. The days with you, the days with Dad, the days to come with mad, impossible Pond, her raggedy Doctor and their daughter travelling in a blue box."

"Melody," Amy cried. "I'm sorry."

"The days I can't have," Melody finished. "Take them… please."

The Doctor pulled Amy away from the door and took her to the console and then sat her down while he piloted the TARDIS away.

…To Be Continued…


	29. Birth of a Time Lord

DISCLAIMER: The characters of DOCTOR WHO do not belong to me. They belong to the BBC & Steven Moffat. I'm just borrowing them for a while.

_Author's Note: First, so sorry for the delay in this chapter. It has been surprisingly hard to write. Second, it'll probably be the last chapter till December. I'm participating in the 2011 National Novel Writing Month and with having to write nearly 2k a day on an original story I won't have the time for this. But rest assured, come December there will be new chapters. There is no way that I'm going to abandon this story. :D_

**Chapter Twenty-Nine: Birth of a Time Lord**

Once they were spinning in the vortex the Doctor went back to his wife.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I know that was hard."

Amy shook her head and hugged her husband.

"Shh…" he soothed. "I'm here. I'm here."

"Oh Doctor…"

"It's alright now Amy," the Doctor assured. "I saved you."

Amy nodded into his shoulder. "I was so worried."

"I'm here now. I'll always be here for you."

Amy dried her tears and looked at the Doctor. "That could have turned out so wrong."

"I know,"

"It did," she corrected herself. "It did turn out so wrong."

"But it's all okay now," the Doctor insisted.

"But it wasn't," Amy cried. "Why didn't you check to see if there was a plague?"

"That's not the way we travel," the Doctor answered. "You know that."

"Well then maybe I don't want to travel with you anymore…" Amy cried clutching her stomach. "The danger you put us in… put our baby in."

The Doctor stood up, unsure on what to do or say. He wanted to tell Amy that travelling to a new planet was her idea. He wanted to point out that even though things turned out a mess in one version of her timeline, they worked out in the end. But the sight of Amy's determined face deterred him.

"I'm taking you home," the Doctor said as he turned to the console and before Amy could say another word, the TARDIS shuddered to a stop. Amy was about to ask them where they were when a sudden familiar gripping pain tore through her stomach.

"Ow," she said, trying to put on a brave face.

The Doctor looked sharply at Amy as she doubled over in pain again.

"Oh…" she said in a wavering voice. "Doctor. Doctor I think it's the baby."

"What?" he asked, suddenly abandoning his place at the console. "Now?"

Amy nodded and reached out to her husband. "Now. Doctor. It's now…"

The Doctor took Amy by the hands and hoisted her to her feet. "Come on Amy… out the door."

Amy looked incredulously at her husband. "You're really kicking me out then?"

"No of course not," he assured as they walked to the TARDIS doors.

"But you said that you were—"

"Yes because I figured you could use some time with your parents," the Doctor answered. "And now you're going to have your baby… our baby here on Earth. It's going to be great."

Another contraction gripped Amy. "Great…" she muttered. "You have no idea."

They exited the TARDIS, which had landed in Amy's backyard. A cry of pain from Amy brought her mother and father from the house. "What is it?" Augusta asked but Tabitha ran to Amy's other side.

"You're having a baby?" she asked her daughter. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Been busy," Amy said through gritted teeth. "Telling you now."

"Not entirely all Amy's fault that she didn't tell you," the Doctor added. "We only found out that she was pregnant a little while ago."

"What do alien pregnancies work differently?" asked August as they laid Amy down on the couch.

"Well uh…" the Doctor began, wondering whether or not he should tell them that their daughter had been kidnapped, but a cry from Amy silenced any thought of telling the truth, at least for that moment.

"Oh…" Amy moaned as she gripped the armrest of the couch. "Get it out, get it out…"

"Doctor can't you do anything?" asked August.

The Doctor shook his head. "What? Me? No. Not at all."

"But you're a doctor!" her father exclaimed.

"He's not that kind of Doctor Dad," Amy said through gritted teeth.

"No of course not," Tabitha agreed. "And even if he was there is no way that he'd be able to keep his head considering that this is his first child."

Amy cast a glance up at the Doctor. She knew that he had been married before, she knew that he had travelled with his granddaughter once upon a time, and she knew that somewhere out there lay the body of his "daughter" a woman who was created in a way that was not unlike how River was created. She thought that the Doctor would make a reference to that but instead he just nodded.

"That and the fact that there's never been a human – time lord baby before," the Doctor admitted. "I'm not a hundred percent sure how this is going to go."

Tabitha looked sharply at the Doctor. "Will Amelia be alright?"

The Doctor nodded. "Should be fine, will be fine," he assured. "I just wouldn't recommend taking her to a hospital."

"What, will the baby have three heads or a time head or something?" asked Amy, glaring up at her husband.

"Time head?" the Doctor asked. "What's a time head?"

"I dunno," Amy said with a shrug, during a break in her contractions. "But what if she has one."

"She?" asked Tabitha. "We're going to have a granddaughter?"

Amy nodded. "Yeah Mum, and her name's going to be Melody."

The Doctor looked at Amy and smiled. "Melody Pond."

"Melody Pond?" asked August questionly. "Not Melody Doctor?"

Even though Amy was gripped by another contraction she managed to answer her father. "The Doctor isn't really his name," she said. "It's more of his title."

"Not his name?" asked Tabitha. "So what is it? Do you know?"

Amy shook her head.

August looked to the Doctor. "Our daughter doesn't know your name?"

"So it's just Doctor?" asked Tabitha. "Doctor who?"

The Doctor shook his head. "Sorry," he apologized. "Not saying."

"But that seems a little—"

"Oh someone has to do something," Amy said as another contraction coursed through her. "This is getting, far— to— painful."

"Amy, dear Amy," the Doctor cooed as he stroked her hair. "What do you need?"

"Rory," she said through gritted teeth.

"Rory?" asked Tabitha.

"He's a nurse," she replied as the contraction subsided. "He's helped in the maternity ward before. If I can't go to the hospital and I can't let this one deliver our baby 'cause he's not that kind of Doctor," she added, indicating to the Doctor. "Then there's no one I'd rather have delivering this baby."

"I'll go get him," August said before leaving the room.

"You stay with her," Tabitha told the Doctor. "And try to get her upstairs to her room. It's going to make giving birth a lot easier. I'm going to get some clean towels and other things that we'll need."

Tabitha then left the room, leaving Amy and the Doctor alone.

"Doctor," she whimpered as another contraction started. "It hurts."

"I know," he said, earning a look of disbelief from his wife. "Alright I don't know but I can imagine how much it hurts. Regenerating is the worst pain that I've ever been through, and that includes getting radiation poisoning before my last regeneration so I would imagine that giving birth is super close if not exactly to that."

Amy nodded. "I feel like my insides are twisting and churning."

"Yup," said the Doctor. "That's what it feels like to regenerate."

"Doctor," she asked in a whisper as he helped her to her feet. "Will Melody be more human or time lord?"

"I don't know," he admitted as they walked up the stairs. "I mean she has one heart, and seems to be human but then again the first Time Lords had one heart before they were exposed to the vortex so who knows."

"And what about me?" she asked as they entered her room. It looked exactly as it had the night that the Doctor stole her away. The dolls and pictures of him in his raggedy form were still spewed all over the place and the Doctor was once again quite surprised at how ingrained in her psyche he was.

"What about you?" the Doctor asked as he helped her lay on the bed.

"Will I regenerate if I die?"

"Amelia Pond," he chastised. "You are not going to die."

"But women die during childbirth," she pointed out, letting her fears get the better of her. "I don't want to die, but things go wrong and we're not in the hospital or even in the TARDIS… I need to be prepared. We need to be prepared. Has this baby changed me at all?"

Amy was looking to the Doctor with such hope and such fear that he knew that he had to tell her what the scans showed. He had wanted to keep it a surprise, he wanted to let Amy know at a better time that because she was carrying a half time-lord baby, her body had changed just enough to make her partial time-lord as well.

"Doctor?" Amy asked fearfully. "Have I changed?"

"Yes," he said with a nod. "Melody has changed you, for the better you know. You, the girl who grew up beside a crack in space and time were always different, in fact I think it's because you had the universe pouring through your head that you were able to carry this baby in the first place but—"

"—I am different then," Amy interrupted.

"Yes," the Doctor confirmed. "Conceiving a half time-lord baby in the TARDIS and then having the soul of the TARDIS downloaded into your ganger body and transmitted across time and space has changed your DNA ever so subtly that anyone looking would think that you were part time-lord yourself."

Amy breathed a sigh of relief, just before another contraction hit. This one was so intense that she was unable to speak, but as soon as it passed she looked up with loving eyes at her husband. "So does that mean that we're going to be together forever?"

"We were always going to be together forever," he assured.

Amy thought back to what River and Rory had told her so long ago, that they had watched the Doctor die on the edge of Lake Silencio in Utah and wondered if they really did have forever. But any thoughts on being together forever with the Doctor were quickly erased by another contraction.

After what seemed like ages, there was the sound of people racing up the stairs and Amy looked up and past her husband just in time to see Rory enter the room. "Oh my god," he muttered, feeling quite overwhelmed.

"Ah Rory!" the Doctor exclaimed. "So glad that you're here. They're quite close together now and I'm not exactly sure what I'm—"

"Rory?" asked Amy as another contraction finished. "You okay?"

"You're pregnant."

"Yes Rory," she said with a glare. "Nice to see that you're eyes are still working, you're going to need them I think."

"Oh Rory you should know that I'd never lie to you," Tabitha said as she walked past him to Amy's other side. "Now put that brain to good use. Our Amy needs you right now."

"I'm sorry Rory," the Doctor apologized. "I would have taken her to a hospital, I really would have but this baby is part time lord, I'm not exactly sure what's going to happen, and I don't know what to do."

"You're a Doctor," the nurse pointed out.

"Not that kind of Doctor," the Doctor corrected. "Now please," he continued as Amy let out another muted scream as a contraction hit her. "She needs you."

"We needed you," Rory snapped angrily. "Where were you a month ago on Miracle Day?"

"Miracle Day?" asked the Doctor.

"Miracle Day?" echoed Amy.

"Miracle Day," Augusta confirmed. "Terrible thing that was."

"The whole world stopped dying," Tabitha added. "We were immortal."

"For a couple months," Rory continued. "And then it stopped. Though I've been doing research, something to do with Torchwood, which was started by you and a run in you had with Queen Victoria or something?"

The Doctor's eyes widened and he turned back to Amy. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "But I've got to go check something out."

Amy looked to her husband with panic in her eyes. "You can't leave me."

"I'll be back," he promised. "On time."

"No offence sweetie but your timing sucks sometimes," Amy stated.

"I promise that I'll be back in time," he assured. 'The TARDIS won't let me be late…" the Doctor paused and took his wife's hand. "I could stay…"

"Is this important?" Amy asked.

The Doctor nodded.

"Then go," Amy stated through gritted teeth as another contraction hit her.

"You sure?"

Amy nodded, waiting till the contraction was over before continuing. "But know that if you miss the birth of this baby I am going to make you pay for the rest of your regenerations."

The Doctor leaned down and kissed Amy on the forehead. "I love you,"

"Love you too," she said fondly as the Doctor left.

…

The Doctor raced down the stairs, hearing Rory starting to give instructions to Amy about her breathing, and what she could probably expect. The Doctor wanted nothing more than to stay at his wife's side but he knew that he had to make sure that the events that had led to the immortality of the human race were not about to repeat themselves. If Rory, Tabitha and Augusta had just mentioned the events of Miracle Day, the Doctor wouldn't have known where he was supposed to start but mentioning Torchwood led the Doctor to the only man on the planet who was immortal— or so the Doctor thought.

The Doctor exited the TARDIS in America and stumbled upon an intriguing conversation. "I don't understand," a black man was muttering. "How can I be immortal?"

"You shared my blood," said Jack, who the Doctor did know. "I guess it makes sense."

"But I thought that you were always supposed to be alone Jack," began Gwen, a woman that the Doctor had only ever seen via a screen.

"This is beyond weird," said another male, who the Doctor did not know.

"Excuse me," the Doctor interrupted, causing all eyes to come to him. "But could someone please tell me what the hell has been going on here.

Jack was the first one to step forward. He looked past the Doctor to the TARDIS and then back to the Doctor who was wearing the forest green coat that he had been so fond of wearing since the Gamma forest. "Doctor?" he asked.

"In the flesh."

"Jack who's your friend?"

"Gwen this is the Doctor," Jack introduced. "Doctor, you know Gwen, this is her husband Rhys and a recent acquaintance of ours, Rex."

"You mean new team member," Rex corrected. "We didn't go through all of that for nothing."

"Yes," the Doctor said. "What was all of that anyways? Something about immortality for the human race?"

"It was done via a morphic field," Jack explained. "There's a hole in the earth running from Hong Kong to Buenos Ares."

"And who found that?" the Doctor asked.

"Do you know where it came from?" Gwen asked.

The Doctor shook his head. "No idea. But who found it."

"They called themselves The Family," Jack answered. "But don't worry Doctor, we took care of them."

"I'll take your word on that Jack," the Doctor said with a smile. "But I'm telling you that if I come across this Family in my travels, you'll have to pay… okay Jack?"

"Okay Doctor…" Jack began before pausing. "So what's with the new face?"

"You know that it happens sometimes" the Doctor reminded.

"Was it after the bar?"

The Doctor nodded. "It was."

"You didn't look so good," Jack stated.

"Neither did you," the Doctor replied.

"Were you dying?"

"Wait a minute Word War Two," Rex interjected. "This guys immortal too?"

"No not immortal," the Doctor corrected. "Just extremely long lived… too long sometimes if I do say so myself but don't let my wife hear me say that."

"Wife?" Jack asked, with wide eyes. "Oh Doctor, Doctor… tell me that you didn't."

"Get married?" the Doctor asked, raising his left hand to show the plan gold wedding band. "You bet I did."

"This is incredible," Jack muttered.

"Jack," Gwen began warily. "Thought you said that this Doctor of yours was an eternal bachelor."

"He is," Jack confirmed. "Or he was."

"Every man is entitled to settle down with the right woman," Rhys stated as he put his arm around Gwen. "Right?"

"Oh Rhys I knew that I'd like you," the Doctor said with a smile.

"So who is the lucky lady?" Jack asked with a raised eyebrow. "Was she someone that you met out in time and space, or is she one of the companions that you've had… cause you know I always thought that if the Battle of Canary Warf hadn't happened—"

"Different incarnations of me have had different feelings," the Doctor interjected rather sharply. "What I felt once, changed when I regenerated over London."

Jack nodded. "Okay. So, where is she?"

"Oh Amy's in Ledworth having our baby."

Jack's eyes widened. "You're having a baby."

The Doctor nodded. "Yup, and now that I've figured out what's been going on here—"

"Go," Rhys interjected. "I know what it's like to be running late to the birth of your own child. I was stuck in traffic when Gwen went into labour and I could have sworn that she was going to kill me and—"

"Shut it Rhys," Gwen said lovingly as she placed a kiss on her husband's cheek. "That's all water under the bridge right? And Doctor Jack's told me all about your wonderful flying machine and I'd love to take a spin."

"Oh," Jack agreed with a smile. "Me too. I've missed the TARDIS."

The Doctor smiled. "Alright, field trip for everyone. You can meet Amy and when the baby is born, you can meet her too."

"Uh if you guys don't mind I'm going to stay here," Rex stated as he stepped back. "I've had enough crazy to last a lifetime, and my lifetime just got infinitely longer."

"Alright Rex," Jack said with a smile as he held out his hand. "It's been fun."

"Yeah right," Rex said with a laugh and after Gwen and Rhys had said their goodbyes, he watched as they all went into the TARDIS which soon disappeared from sight.

…

"Where is he?" Amy cried out in pain. She had been labour for hours and even though for a while she hadn't minded that the Doctor was gone, now that she was getting closer and closer to actually having the baby, she was beginning to panic. "He needs to be here. He should be here."

"He'll be here," Tabitha soothed as she stroked her daughters forehead. "Haven't you said that he always comes back to you?"

"Yeah," Amy conceded. "But his timing sucks."

"What was that about timing?" the Doctor asked as he appeared in the doorway with roses in his hands.

"Doctor," Amy said with a bright smile as she reached out for her husband. "You made it."

"And just in time too," Rory said. "Cause I think it's time to start pushing."

Laughter sounded from downstairs and Tabitha looked concerned. "You brought home people?"

"Friends of mine," the Doctor assured as he came to sit beside Amy. "Augusta is taking good care of them, but now Amy… you ready?"

Amy nodded. "So ready. So so ready…"

"Alright then, next time you have a contraction Amy I want you to push," Rory instructed and as soon as the next contraction hit, Amy did as she told. Close to ten minutes later the sound of a baby's cry was heard.

"Hello there," Amy cooed as the baby was placed into her arms. "Baby Melody… you're finally here."

The baby made a little noise and the Doctor laughed. "No this is your mother, and I'm your father but you can call me Doctor."

The baby made another little noise and the Doctor shook his head. "No you can't call me that. You can call me Daddy or Doctor, or Doctor Daddy… but not bow-tie guy."

Amy looked at her husband strangely. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Talking to Melody," the Doctor answered, turning back to his daughter. "Yes. Melody is your name not baby, though you are a baby right now."

"You can't talk to babies," Amy stated.

The Doctor nodded. "Course I can. I speak millions and millions of languages, baby just happens to be one of them." The Doctor laughed and kissed his baby girl on top of the head. "Yes we're glad that you're here too."

"Doctor?" Amy asked. "Will I be able to hear her now that she's born?"

The Doctor shook his head. "No. Mothers carrying Time Lord's can only hear them in utero, though come to think about it, my mother always seemed to know what I was thinking."

"You never speak of her," Amy pointed out. "What was she like?"

"Another conversation for another time," the Doctor promised as he reached out his arms. "Can I hold our little Melody?"

Amy nodded as she held her daughter out. "Here you go."

The Doctor cradled his daughter gently while Rory finished up making sure that Amy was okay and as he looked down into the wide bright eyes of his daughter, the Doctor couldn't help but feel like he wasn't so alone anymore. He hadn't felt truly alone since Amy had came into his life, but now, knowing that he had thrown his DNA forward to a new generation, he also felt as though he wasn't the last of the Time Lords anymore, and that was true. A new Time Lord had been born— Melody Pond— his daughter and the hope for all those who wished that the Time Lords were still around.

TBC


	30. Who Do You Think You Are?

DISCLAIMER: The characters of DOCTOR WHO do not belong to me. They belong to the BBC & Steven Moffat. I'm just borrowing them for a while.

_Author's Note: Hey ya'll! Sorry once again for being MIA for all of November and most of December as well, but I've successfully won National Novel Writing Month which means that I can concentrate on this little gem of mine. And I'm sure that you've all seen the news by now, but the Ponds are going to be leaving the TARDIS sometimes in series seven. I find it horribly depressing and kind of makes my mind up about this story. I'm going to finish off series six, and I might do the Christmas special once I see it however this story does have an ending, and I'd rather end it before Amy meets hers. So, leave a review. There won't be many chances left. _

**Chapter 30: Who Do You Think You Are?**

It was the following morning after Melody had been born, and Amy felt as though her life was complete. Regardless of what they had said to each other the day before, and regardless of the fact that the Doctor almost — almost being the keyword — missed the birth of his and Amy's child, Amy felt as though nothing could possibly go wrong. She just sat back in the bed, watching little Melody sleep while the Doctor sat beside her.

"She's so precious," Amy whispered as she traced her daughter's small facial features. "I can't believe she's ours."

"No," the Doctor agreed with a smile of his own. "I can't believe it either."

"Knock, knock," came a voice from the doorway and the happy couple looked up to see none other than Jack Harkness standing there. "Can I come in and meet the family Doctor?"

The Doctor nodded. "Sure Jack, come on in."

"We were never really properly introduced yesterday," Jack began with a smile as he pulled up a chair beside Amy's bedside. "But I'm Captain Jack Harkness."

"You're American," Amy pointed out.

"Sort of," Jack corrected. "I'm actually from the fifty-first century,"

"And he's been a thorn in my side since I picked him up."

"Oh come now Doctor," Jack said rather coyly. "You picked me up?"

The Doctor just shook his head, marvelling at the fact that it took Jack only seconds to slip back into his usual innuendos.

"Doctor…" Amy began uncertainly as she leaned back into her husband. "Something's wrong with him."

The Doctor sighed and Jack looked uncomfortable. "He's a fixed point in space and time," the Doctor explained. "Jack, myself and my companion at the time went toe to toe with the Dalek Emperor himself."

"Rose," Jack continued. "Was stupid enough to look into the heart of the TARDIS and managed to defeat them all."

"Actually all Rose did was allow her body to house the soul of the TARDIS," the Doctor corrected. "It was the TARDIS who destroyed the Dalek Emperor and his Empire and it was the soul of the TARDIS acting through Rose who managed to bring Jack back from the dead. However that made him a fixed point in time."

"So you'll live forever?" asked Amy.

Jack nodded. "That's the theory… but how can you tell?"

"Her DNA has been changed slightly by little Melody here," the Doctor explained. "Human plus as I like to think about it. Melody is half time lord and Amy is… well how would you put it?"

"Human plus," Amy agreed. "Or, one quarter time lord maybe?"

The Doctor laughed. "Yeah, that will do."

Jack just shook his head. "You know I never thought that you'd be the one to settle down. The eternal bachelor, isn't that what you said?"

"No," the Doctor countered. "You're talking about my label as the oncoming storm, but the eternal bachelor. And for your information Jack I did have a family once on Gallifrey…" the Doctor paused and Amy reached out and took his hand. She had heard bits and pieces of his family. It was something that the Doctor chose not to share a lot of. And when Amy had been going through all his previous companions, she had come across Susan, who was the first and was his granddaughter as well.

"…but that is all in the past now," the Doctor continued in a more jovial tone. "Amy here has captured my heart and well she's going to be with me for a very long time. Aren't you Pond?"

Amy grinned at him. "You bet."

At that moment, baby Melody began to cry. "Oh hush little one," Amy soothed as she rocked her baby back and forth. "There's no need to cry."

"The little lady is hungry," the Doctor explained as he pat his young daughter on the head. "Come on Jack," he said as he stood up. "Let's leave mother and baby to do their mothery, baby things."

The Doctor and Jack stood up and left Amy to do her thing. Amy stared down at her little mewling daughter feeling very lost. "Okay kiddo," she said quietly as she brought her baby to her breast to feed. "Let's give this a whirl."

"Do we really have to go?" asked Amy with a pout. It was a week later, and Rory had decided that she was sufficiently recovered from the birth of her baby. The Doctor, not used to being in one place for such a long time, the time he and Martha were stuck in the nineteen sixties being the sole exception, was ready to move on.

"Places to go," he told her as he brought out a cradle for their little melody. "People to see… we could go to Ravan-Skala, you know. The people are six hundred feet tall. You have to talk to them in hot air balloons and the Tourist Information Centre is made out of one of their hats."

"Is it safe for babies?" Amy asked.

"Course it's safe for babies," the Doctor promised.

"And safe for humans?"

The Doctor nodded. "You betcha."

Amy looked at the Doctor suspiciously. "Are you lying to me?"

"The Doctor always lies," Jack interrupted as he came forward. He had really enjoyed spending time with the Doctor's newest companion and little baby. But even he knew that it was time for the pair to move on. "But don't let that worry you. He'll do everything in his power to protect you."

Amy just stared at Jack. "My Doctor never lies. Not to me."

"And of course I'll protect her," the Doctor added.

"You better," August said warningly before shaking the Doctor's hand.

"Are you sure that you don't want to leave my grandbaby here?" asked Tabitha. "The universe is such a big place. Is it really any place to raise a child?"

"Mum, my place is with the Doctor," Amy told her. "And Melody's place is with me. We're going to be fine."

"Absolutely fine," the Doctor promised.

"Bye Amy," Rory said as he gave Amy a hug. "You happy?" he asked.

"Yeah," she whispered in his ear. "I really am."

Rory pulled away and gave her a small smile. "I'm glad, just be safe."

Amy nodded. "Always."

"Amy, it's time to go."

Amy handed Melody off to her husband before giving her parents a massive hug. "I love you both," she told each of them. "We'll be back soon."

And with that, the Doctor, Amy and baby Melody went into the TARDIS and it soon disappeared into the vortex.

"This could be the most exciting place I've ever seen!" the Doctor said as he looked around the lobby of the hotel. Amy had just finished reading him the riot act for promising her one place and giving her another one.

"How can you be excited about a rubbish hotel on a rubbish bit of Earth?"

"Because this is not Earth," the Doctor said excitedly. "This had just been made to look like Earth. The craftsmanship involved. Can you imagine?"

"No," Amy said as she held baby Melody. "I can't. And I don't want to. Is this place safe for us?"

"I don't know," the Doctor admitted. "Something yanked us off course."

"Then should we leave?" Amy suggested.

"Oh no," the Doctor said with a pout. "I want to know who did this. Colonists maybe, they wanted to recreate a bit of home. I want to shake their hand or tentacle or whatever."

Amy sighed. "Five minutes," she told him. "And then we go, yes?"

The Doctor nodded. "Five minutes."

The Doctor, Amy and little Melody walked through the hotel until they came to reception. The Doctor tapped a bell on the desk, which brought three people around the corner. One of them was brandishing a chair leg and Amy instantly brought Amy to her chest to try and protect her from their attackers.

"We're back in reception," one of them said.

"You're threatening me with a chair leg," the Doctor remarked.

"We surrender!" another one cowered.

"Never been threatened by a chair leg before," the Doctor mused.

"Who are you, and what are you?" a third one asked.

"No," the Doctor continued. "I tell a lie. I have. Nasty chair-leg people."

"Okay!" the woman shouted. "Shut up everyone."

"Be careful Rita," said the man.

"Their pupils are dilated," the woman, Rita said. "They are as surprised as we are. Besides which, if this is a trick and they're not real, they will probably tell us something."

"Doctor," Amy said warningly. "Our five minutes are definitely up."

"Yeah," the Doctor agreed as he backed away. "Thank you for not hurting us with the chair leg but my wife, baby and I have to go now."

"Wait," Rita said as they began to walk away. "Take us with you?"

The Doctor looked to Amy who nodded.

"Right then, everyone with me."

The Doctor, Amy with baby Melody in her arms along with Rita, the man who was called Howie and the alien, which was from Tivoli, made their way through the hotel. During their short walk they were all silent except for the introductions. The three that had joined Amy and the Doctor questioned his lack of name but that conversation stopped when they came to the landing where the TARDIS had been parked, however they saw that it was gone. The Doctor walked forward and started feeling for it in case it was invisible, but he soon discovered that there was nothing there.

"Where's the TARDIS?" asked Amy. "You parked it right here."

"What's a TARDIS?" asked Howie.

"Our way out," the Doctor said. "And it's gone."

"This is bad," Amy said as she held Melody a little tighter. "Yeah?"

"Very bad," the Doctor agreed. "I don't know how bad. But certainly we're three buses, a long walk and eight quid in a taxi from good…" he paused and turned to the three. "Are there more of you?"

"Just Joe," Rita said. "But he's tied up right now."

"Doing what?" asked the Doctor.

"No," Rita corrected. "I mean that he is literally tied up right now."

"What is going on here?" Amy asked as Rita led the way to where Joe was tied up. "Why are you here?"

"I have no idea," Rita told her. "One minute I was starting my shift, the next I was here. The same went for these other two."

"I was in the middle of singing to our new conquerors," the alien stated.

"How long have you been here?" asked the Doctor.

"A couple days," Rita explained. "We've searched for a way out but there isn't one. All the doors and windows are sealed shut. The main door we did manage to get open but it was a brick wall."

"And what have you found in your two days exploring here Rita?"

"There are a lot of rooms Doctor," she explained. "With things in them."

"Things?" asked Amy. "What kind of things."

"Rita here thinks that they're bad dreams." Howie said.

"You have a better idea?" asked Rita.

"What do you mean bad dreams?" asked the Doctor.

Rita shrugged her shoulder. "I have no idea, but I think that you will when you see Joe."

The Doctor was led into a dining hall, which had hundreds of identical laughing ventriloquist dummies. As soon as the Doctor stepped forward, they all stopped laughing and they all turned their heads towards them as he walked towards Joe who was tied up in a chair at one of the tables.

"Hello," the Doctor said slowly and cautiously. "I'm the Doctor."

Joe turned to the Doctor with a glazed look on his face. "You're all going to die here."

"Oh I don't know about that," the Doctor said as he sat in a chair beside Joe. "Are you there Joe?" he asked. "Can I have a quick word?"

"I am still here Doctor," Joe assured. "I have seen the light."

"And what light might that be?" the Doctor asked.

"I have lived a blasphemous life, but he has forgiven my inconstancy, and soon...he shall feast." Joe said with a creepy smile.

"You've been here for two days," the Doctor pointed out. "What are you waiting for?"

"We weren't ready," Joe told him. "We were still raw."

"But you're what… cooked now?"

"In a sense," Joe agreed. "Soon you will be too… just be patient. First, find your room."

"My room?" the Doctor asked.

"There is a room here for everyone Doctor, even you."

"And what will I find in this room?"

"The light," Joe answered. "As I have."

"Yes, you mentioned something about a light."

"Nothing else matters anymore," Joe said. "Only him. It's like these things. I used to hate them! They make me laugh now. "Gottle o' geer! Gottle o' geer!" You should go. He'll be here soon."

"Yeah," the Doctor said as he stood up. "Leaving is a good idea."

The Doctor led the group through the hotel and one by one they found themselves drawn to separate rooms. The Doctor told them to stay away from the rooms, but they couldn't listen. Even Amy found herself in a room and found herself confronted by the weeping angels. She instantly turned baby Melody away from them and just stared unblinking at them her heart racing a mile a minute. It was the Doctor who figured out that they weren't really and turned on the light in the bedroom which made the angels disappear.

"Amy," he told her as he forced to her to look at him. "It's alright."

"But the angels…"

"Aren't for you," the Doctor told her as he looked at the alien who was cowering in fear in the corner of the room. It was then that they heard a loud noise outside. They barricaded the door as the hotel shook. The Doctor peered out the peep hole but Amy stopped him.

"What are you doing?" she asked him.

"I want to see what we're up against."

The Doctor looked out the peep hole and grinned. "Oh you are beautiful."

Back in the dining hall, once the monster was gone and Joe was dead, Amy sat down beside the alien and tried to cheer him up. "If it's any consolation, I've met the weeping angels," she told him. "So I know how… in fact, I thought that the room was for me."

"It wants to kill us," the alien lamented. "Kill! Not enslave or oppress."

"Now you listen to me," Amy continued. "The Doctor has been a part of my life for so long now, and he's never ever let me down. Even when I thought that he had, even when I was a kid and he left me, he came back and saved me. He's my husband and the father to our child and if he can save me then he'll save you too."

"You really believe that," the alien marveled. "Don't you."

"Course," Amy assured as she glanced over at the Doctor who was holding their baby. "He's my whole world," Amy began to walk away from the alien when he suddenly stopped her.

"If the Weeping Angels were meant for me, then your room is still out there."

Amy shook her head to clear that terrifying thought from her head before joining her husband and baby who were talking to Rita.

"So what happened to Joe?"

"He died," the Doctor said, smiling at Amy as she sat down beside him.

"But how?" Rita asked. "You are a medical doctor aren't you?"

"Course I am," the Doctor assured. "All his vital organs stopped as if the simple spark of life, his loves and hates, his faiths and fears were just… taken."

"And will that happen to us?" Amy asked worriedly.

"Oh no," the Doctor assured as he passed her Melody. "I'll save us all."

"Why?" asked Rita suddenly.

"Why what?" asked the Doctor.

"Why is it up to you to save us?" she pondered. "That's quite a God Complex that you've got there."

"It's not a god complex," Amy defended. "It's just what he does." Melody began to fuss, so Amy made her excuses and went off to a quiet corner while the Doctor turned to Rita.

"You asked why and I do it for them," he told her. "I brought her here. She'd say that it was her choice but if you offer a child a suitcase full of sweets and they'll take it. Offer someone all of time and space and they will take that too. Which is why you shouldn't. It's why grown ups were invented."

Rita shook her head. "But she's your wife."

"It means that I've got to protect her even more than I did before,"

"She's tough," Rita pointed out. "I'm sure she could take care of herself."

The Doctor looked over at Amy who was feeding their child and sighed. "I'm sure that she could… but I don't know what I'd do if I lost her."

"So that's the real reason then," Rita mused. "You save her for yourself."

"She's the love of my life," the Doctor explained. "And you don't understand but I've had a lot of lives. So that means a lot."

Rita nodded. "I'm sure it does… so why don't you stop drinking that tea and save us all."

The Doctor did his best to save all of them but one by one they died. Howie then Rita leaving Gibbis the alien, Amy and Melody and the Doctor left. While they had been chasing and while people had been dying, Amy had found her room. It had been marked with a seven and she couldn't make sense of what she saw. The Doctor too found his own room. Something that he couldn't quite make sense of either and while he knew that Rita and Howie had seen their room and then had been possessed by the creature. Only he didn't know how. Or why. What he did have was a note written by a previous inhabitant of the hotel, a woman named Lucy who had been forced to confront her fear and then had been prayed upon by the beast.

"It prays on people's fear and possesses them," the Doctor muttered aloud, trying to work everything out. "But Rita wasn't afraid, she was brave and calm. Maybe it's something to do with the people, some connection between you that'll tell me how to fight it."

"You keep saying that," Gibbis the alien pointed out. "But you don't."

"He will work it out," Amy promised as she rocked a crying Melody. "Just let him riff and move anything expensive out of his way because when he figures it out it'll be brilliant."

The Doctor stopped and looked at Amy. "Oh no…"

"Doctor?" she asked. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"It's not fear_._It's faith. Not just religious faith, faith in something…" the Doctor paused and walked over to the middle table. _"_Howard believed in conspiracies, external forces controlling the world. Joe had dice cufflinks and a chain with a horseshoe. He was a gambler. Gamblers believe in luck, an intangible force that helps them win or lose... Gibbis rejected personal autonomy and is waiting for the next batch of invaders to tell him what to do. They all believe there's something guiding them, about to save them. That's what it replaces. Every time someone was confronted with their most primal fear, they fell back on their most fundamental faith."

The Doctor paused, sat on a barstool and rubbed his eyes. "And all this time, I've been telling you to dig deep. Find the thing that keeps you brave. I made you expose your faith. Show them what they needed."

"And what do they need?" asked Amy.

The Doctor looked up at his wife. "You."

Amy looked extremely taken aback. "What? Why me?"

"Your faith in me," the Doctor explained as Amy with Melody in her arms sat down beside him.

"What?" asked Amy.

"It's what brought us here."

Amy shook her head. "I don't understand."

"The best converts your faith into something that it can consume. Faith is an energy system and it is the specific emotional energy that this creature needs to live. Which is why at the end of her note Lucy said—"

"Praise him."

The Doctor nodded before realizing what Amy said. "Oh please no…"

"Praise him," Amy said again causing the Doctor to take Melody from her arms.

"Run," he told Amy and Gibbis. "Run!"

The four of them ran through the halls with the beast chasing after them. Amy stopped to face the creature and the Doctor handed his baby to Gibbis in order to stop her wife from sacrificing herself to the creature. "You are not going to leave me Amy," he promised her. "I will save you."

"We can't help her," Gibbis told the Doctor.

"She is my wife," the Doctor explained as he picked Amy up and dragged her. "I am not leaving her."

The Doctor managed to drag Amy into a room, which to his horror was her room. Young Amelia Pond was sitting on her suitcase, watching and waiting for the Doctor at the window. The Doctor braces an end table and a chair against the door and then takes Melody from Gibbis who was cowering between the bed and the wall. He turned to Amy and saw that she had slunk to the floor.

"Doctor," she cried. "It's happening. It's changing me. My thoughts."

"My dear Amy," the Doctor said as he knelt down beside her. "I can't save you from this. There is nothing that I can do to stop this."

Amy looked up into her husband's eyes totally terrified. "What?"

"I stole your childhood from you Amy and now I've led you by the hand to your death."

Amy shook her head. "No. I chose to come with you. I chose to marry you."

"I know," the Doctor agreed. "I know but I knew that this would end badly. It always ends badly."

"I don't believe you." Amy whispered.

"Please," the Doctor begged. "Forget your faith in me."

"But I love you…"

"I know," the Doctor sighed. "And I can't lose you Amy so please."

Amy shook her head. "I could never lose my faith in you."

"Oh Amy, do you know why I took you with me?"

"Because I was the girl with the crack in the wall."

"I took you with me because I was vain," the Doctor explained. "Because I wanted to be adored… even loved," the Doctor paused and stroked Amy's hair. "Look at you. My glorious Pond… the girl who waited for me."

"I'll always wait for you…" she whispered. "My hero…"

"I'm not a hero," the Doctor assured. "I really am just a mad man in a box."

Amy sat there as the Doctor kissed her forehead. She blinked a couple of times before leaning forward and kissing the Doctor deeply. When she pulled away she looked stronger and more herself. "I will never stop believing in you,"

"Then you're going to die."

Amy shook her head. "No. Because I don't just have faith in you Doctor, my Doctor… I love you. I love you more than anything and that gives me strength. That gives me hope."

As Amy spoke, the sounds of the beast became weaker and weaker.

"You may just be a mad man in a box," she told him. "And you may have taken me with you because you're vain, but let me tell you that I wished for you. I wished for someone that I could love with all my heart. And that transcends any sort of faith that I might have had in you as a child. You're my partner, my husband and the father of my baby…" she paused and took little Melody into her arms. "…we are a family. And nothing is going to rip us apart."

Amy stood up and the Doctor followed. The room vanished and they found themselves facing the Beast, which was dying. The Doctor kissed Amy quickly and then moved to the Beast. "I am sorry," he told it. "I give you the space to die."

"What is it?" asked Amy. "A Minotaur? Or an Alien? Or an Alien Minotaur?"

"Both actually," the Doctor explained. "A distant cousin of the Nimon. They descend on planets and set themselves up as Gods to be worshipped. Which is fine, until the inhabitants get all secular and advanced enough to build bonker prisons."

"Prisons in space," Amy remarked. "But where are the guards?"

"No need for any," the Doctor explained. "It's all automated. It drifts through space, snatching people with belief systems and converts their faith into food for the creature."

"And it pulled the TARDIS off course because of me?" asked Amy.

The Doctor nodded. "Apparently."

"But it wasn't just me," Amy pointed out. "It must have wanted you too. So tell me Doctor, what do you believe in?"

"According to the in flight recorder," the Doctor said completely changing the subject. "The program developed a glitch. It got stuck on the same setting. The fears from the people before weren't being tidied away."

Amy just shook her head and then turned to the Beast, which was growling. "Is it talking?" she asked. "What is it saying?"

"An ancient creature, drenched in the blood of the innocent, drifting in space through an endless shifting maze. For such a creature, death would be a gift…" the Doctor paused and knelt down beside the creature. "Then die in peace friend. Accept it and sleep well."

The Doctor stood as the Beast growled once more.

"What is it?" asked Amy. "What did it say?"

"That it wasn't talking about himself."

The Doctor and Amy found the TARDIS and returned Gibbis to his home planet. The Doctor then opened the door for Amy and she found herself facing her home. "What is this?" Amy asked as she stepped out with Melody in a sling across her front. "Why are we back here again?"

Amy paused and turned to face her husband. "Doctor?" she asked, feeling as though he was about to do something very stupid. "You're not leaving me… are you?"

"Just for a bit," the Doctor promised her. "I will come back for you."

Tears came to Amy's eyes. "You won't."

The Doctor sighed, confirming her fears.

"But I love you."

"And I love you Amelia Pond," the Doctor agreed, his two hearts breaking. "Which is why I have to do this."

Amy shook her head. "I don't understand."

"You're still breathing," he explained. "Too many times I've almost lost you… and Amy, dear Amy. I'd rather leave you here than lose you out there." The Doctor stepped away as Amy let out a choked sob. "There are still heaps of stuff out there to look at. Did you know that there's a planet whose name literally translates as Volatile Circus? Well there is and…" he paused and shook his head. "…and I can't do this any more."

"But what about what I want?" Amy asked, her sadness turning to anger. "You just can't leave me like this. You promised me forever Doctor. I'm going to hold you to that."

"You can't,"

"Who do you think you are?" she asked him. "You can't leave me here and say goodbye like we shared a cab."

"What's the alternative?" asked the Doctor. "Me standing over your grave? Over your broken body? Over Melody's body?"

"Amy?" asked August as he came outside.

Amy looked to her father and held out Melody. August took his grandbaby and watched as Amy turned back to the Doctor. She launched himself into his arms and held on for all she could. "Please," she begged him. "Please don't leave me."

"Amy…" the Doctor whispered as he buried his face in her long red hair.

"I love you," she told him. "Let us stay with you."

"I'm sorry," the Doctor apologized as he stepped back from her and into the TARDIS. "I am so sorry…"

And before Amy could say another word, the TARDIS vanished leaving her very much alone. She felt as she was going to crumble to pieces when Melody's cry broke through her own sorrow. Amy turned to her father and took Melody into her arms. "It's alright," she told the crying infant. "Your father is just trying to save us… but don't worry. I'll think of something to bring him back."

TBC


	31. Summer's End

DISCLAIMER: The characters of DOCTOR WHO do not belong to me. They belong to the BBC & Steven Moffat. I'm just borrowing them for a while.

_Author's Note: So what happens when you're house bound because you're sick with some kind of throat / eye infection? You write. I hope you all enjoy this chapter and please leave a review!_

**Chapter 31: Summer's End **

Amy took Melody for her evening stroll through Ledworth. It was an activity that she had started the day after that she had been forced to return home. The inhabitants of the small town, which had thought Amy to be the wild child with a crazy imagination, were not all that surprised to see her with a child in tow, however they all had to agree that never had they seen a more doting mother. The only other thing that the people of Ledworth agreed upon was that she should just settle down with the man who was supposed to be her husband. No one could quite understand why Amy had run off the day of her wedding however no one could deny that Rory had taken the whole thing rather well. In fact, he had shown the small town that a girl could seemingly break his heart and he would stand by her when she returned home with someone else's child.

"They're staring at us," Amy hissed as she with Melody in her pram walked side by side to Rory. "Why are they staring?"

"They are always staring at us these days," Rory said with a roll of his eyes.

"I wish they wouldn't, I don't like it."

"You know what they're saying," Rory asked. "Don't you?"

"They're saying; "Oh that Amelia Pond, what a disappointment she has been. And not surprising at all that she's a single mum with a baby." I wish those busy bodies would mind their own business."

"They're only doing what's natural to them," Rory explained as they rounded the corner to take them back to Amy's home. "And you know…" he continued rather hesitantly. "There is a way that we could shut them up."

"I'm willing to do almost anything to shut them up,"

Rory took a deep breath and reached out for Amy. "Marry me."

"What?" Amy asked, stopping dead in her tracks.

"Marry me?" Rory repeated though his tone was more of a question than a statement. "I know that you're married to… well he's gone now isn't he. And it's been three months Amy. I really don't think that he's coming back."

"I waited a combined fourteen years for him," Amy pointed out.

"I know," Rory stated. "And I do admire you for waiting for him but…"

"But what?" Amy asked sharply, not sure whether to be angry or sad at the suggestion that Rory had made. "Do you think that I should give up on him now? Do you really think that I should forget the man that I love?"

"I'm a man…" Rory began quietly, knowing that Amy was probably going to turn him down but also knowing that he had no choice but to tell her how he felt— or rather how he still felt.

"I know that you're a bloke," Amy interrupted.

"Yes but you don't know that I'm a bloke who's still in love with you," Rory blurted out, scared as he watched Amy's face basically turn to stone. "I still love you Amy and… and I care a great deal about little Melody. I know that you cared for me once, or else you wouldn't have agreed to marry me in the first place and I know that I could never compare to the Doctor but… but I just want to help you."

Amy's anger, which had just been about to boil over suddenly, subsided. She couldn't look on Rory as the best friend who always hung around. She could only look at him as a man who was trying to support a woman who was in need— and Amy knew that she was in need. While she put on a brave front, every day that the Doctor did not return saw a little bit of her faith die away. That faith which had almost killed her on the alien hotel was slowly killing her now. She knew that she would always love the Doctor and she knew that it was her undying love, which had saved them both from the Minotaur, however Amy also knew that she would be lying if she didn't admit how lonely she was without her husband.

"Say something…" Rory whispered. "Please."

"Oh Rory," Amy said as she gave her friend a hug. "Thank you."

"For what?" he asked as she pulled away.

"For just being you."

Rory sighed. "That's a no isn't it."

"Right," she said regrettably. "It's a no."

"But Amy…"

"I know that you want to help," she interrupted. "And you can. I've come up with an idea how to get the Doctor's attention."

"Oh?" asked Rory with a raised eyebrow. "What did you have in mind?"

.

"Okay, sharp left turn!" Amy told Rory as he sat behind the wheel of a mini. "Okay right! No, no. No I mean left," Amy paused and turned the map around. "No, sorry right. Right! I definitely mean right." Amy looked at Rory as he turned right. "Now the loop!" she told him. "The loop!" Rory once again did as he was told and then Amy shrieked. "Stop! Stop!"

Rory slammed on the brakes and once the care stopped she and Rory got out of the car. They only had to turn around to see the TARDIS in the middle of the crop circle that they had just made. The doors opened to reveal the Doctor holding up the Ledworth paper with a headline, which read "Ledworth's Crop Circle". Amy couldn't help but squeal in delight as she launched herself as her husband.

"Amy,' the Doctor said as he dropped the paper and wrapped his arms around his wife. "Did you really have to pull such a stunt?"

"I missed you," Amy murmured as she pulled back, whacking the Doctor's arm as she did so.

"Hey!" he exclaimed holding his arm. "What was that for?"

"That was for leaving me."

The Doctor's face fell. "You know why I had to."

"No," Amy told him. "I don't. But it doesn't matter, you're here now."

"Yes," the Doctor conceded as he held her tightly. "I am."

"Hang on," Rory interrupted as he picked up the newspaper. "What's this bit?" The Doctor and Amy turned to Rory and looked to the picture, which had a line running through the word Doctor.

"That wasn't us," Amy pointed out as the Doctor grabbed the paper from Rory's hand. He looked at the picture and tried to determine where the line would be. The Doctor paused and lowered the paper with Amy and Rory behind him. In the distance they heard an engine and saw a red Corvette coming straight at them. With a scream, the trio dove out of the way. The car stopped just inches away from the TARDIS and when Amy, Rory and the Doctor got to their feet they saw River standing before them.

"River?" Rory asked with wide eyes.

"River!" Amy exclaimed cheerfully as she reached out to hug her friend, but River stepped back warily. "River?" she asked again. "Why are you here?"

"Yes," the Doctor agreed. "And where did you get the car?"

"It's mine," River said with a smile as sirens sounded. "Sort of."

"You stole it," Rory stated with a sigh. "Didn't you."

"Borrowed actually," River said as the sirens sounded again. "And how about an introduction to the cutie pie?"

The Doctor and Amy looked to Rory who River was winking at.

"River, Rory." The Doctor introduced. "Rory. River."

"Why did you need to borrow a car to find us?" asked Amy curiously, choosing to completely forget the fact that River was hitting on Rory.

The sirens sounded even closer and River sighed. "That's me out of time," she said as she pulled a gun on the Doctor.

"River!" Amy exclaimed in horror as she gripped her husband's arm.

"What are you doing?" asked Rory.

"What they've programmed her to do," the Doctor said sadly.

"Sorry?" Rory asked, clearly confused.

"When we met River for the first time, she traded her life for ours," Amy explained as she turned to the woman who was essentially herself. "But you don't want to kill him."

"Oh, I think I do." River said with a smirk.

"Those sirens are coming closer," the Doctor pointed out. "Once they're here and they see you with that gun they're going to arrest you."

River gave the Doctor a nod of acceptance. "True enough. Get me out of here then sweetie."

"Anywhere in particular River?" the Doctor asked.

"Well let's see… you've got a time machine and I've got a gun. What the hell… let's kill Hitler."

The Doctor shook his head but snapped his fingers and opened the doors to the TARIDS. "After you River."

River smiled and strode forward. "Thank you."

"And don't think that the gun will work in there," the Doctor called out as Amy and Rory entered the TARDIS behind River. "We'll be in a state of temporal grace."

.

They were barely in flight when River took a shot at the Doctor, only because they were in the beginnings of flight she missed and ended up hitting the console instead. "Oh you stupid woman!" the Doctor said angrily. "You've shot it. You've shot the TARDIS. You've shot the console."

"Well it's your fault you know,"

"How is it my fault?"

"Yeah how is it the Doctor's fault?" asked Amy.

"He said that guns wouldn't work in this place. He said that we'd be in a state of temporal grace."

The Doctor frantically walked around the controls and tried to get the TARDIS working normally. "That was a clever lie you idiot. Anyone could tell that was a cleaver lie."

"Care to explain to me what's going on?" Rory asked as he fell beside Amy who was clinging onto the console.

"So it started when I was kidnapped that second time and taken to the Gamma Forests," Amy explained. "They have these trees which is how the people there procreate. Only, I touched one by myself and it took some of my DNA and scrambled it to create River."

"Then what?" asked Rory.

"Then Madame Kovarian caught up with us, and River exchanged her life for ours." Amy explained. "They must have brainwashed her or something."

Just then the TARDIS gave a lurch and shuddered as though it had crashed. The Doctor exited the TARDIS followed by Amy, Rory and River. All of them coughing from the smoke which started when the TARDIS had crashed. "Out!" the Doctor ordered. "Out. Out! Everybody out. Don't breathe the smoke. Just get out."

"Where are we?" Amy asked as she looked around.

"A room apparently," the Doctor replied.

"What room?" Rory asked.

"I don't know," the Doctor snapped. "I haven't memorized every room in the universe…" he paused and turned to River and snatched her gun. "And you, are not going to kill me today."

River pouted. "Not now that you've got my gun I won't."

"Doctor!" Rory said as he noticed a man on the floor. "This guy, I think he was hurt when we crashed through the window." But as soon as Rory had said those words the man got up. "No wait, hang on. He's fine."

The Doctor just shook his head and put the gun in a fruit bowl that was on the desk. He heard a shuffling sound and looked over it. "Oh hello,: he said as the man stood up with his back towards them. "Sorry. Is this your office? We had a sort of collision with my… vehicle I suppose you could say. Normally I would say that there was fault on both sides however this time it belongs to the woman with blonde hair and…." The Doctor paused as the man turned around.

"Doctor…" Amy began as she stood beside her husband. "Is that?"

"Thank you, whoever you are. I think that you have just saved my life."

"Believe me Hitler," the Doctor said rather gobsmacked. "It was an accident."

Hitler looked past the Doctor to the TARDIS. "What is this thing?" he asked as he walked to it. "Whatever it is… it's magnificent. Is this the vehicle that you were talking about? But it can't be can it? It's a box. A wooden box."

"What do you mean we saved his life?" Amy hissed to the Doctor as Hitler rambled. "We could not have just saved his life."

"Time travel," the Doctor answered. "Never goes to plan."

"Are you going to answer me or not?" asked Hitler.

The Doctor walked towards Hitler. "It's a police telephone box from London. That's right Adolf, the British are coming."

Hitler looked at the Doctor curiously but then stood back and pointed to his officer who was standing. "No!" he shouted. "Stop him!"

Hitler pulled out his gun but the Doctor took it from him and placed it on a chair. "No guns." He told him angrily. "And you. You're going to stay in the closet for a while."

"But he was trying to kill me."

"Yeah and for good reason," the Doctor said as he shut Hitler in the closet.

"But I'm the Fuhrer!" he shouted as the door closed on him.

"Yes you are," the Doctor said with a sigh as he locked the door.

The Doctor then turned to look at the officer. "You alright?" he asked.

"I uh…" the man began before fainting.

"He fainted." Rory pointed out.

"Yes. A perfect faint." the Doctor agreed.

"Now where were we?" asked River as she pointed a gun at the Doctor.

"You're not going to try that again," the Doctor said with a sigh.

River just grinned at him and fired however nothing happened.

"I took the bullets out when I put the chair there."

River sighed. "Is killing you going to take all day?"

"Why?" asked the Doctor. "You busy?"

"Just a little," River said as she took a letter opener from the desk and took a swipe at the Doctor. The Doctor soniced River and made her drop the weapon.

"If you were in a hurry, you'd have killed me in the cornfield."

"The police were coming," River pointed out. "That would have been bad."

"But why do you want to kill him in the first place?" Amy asked as River and the Doctor circled one another. "You saved him."

"Yes. But I've since been trained and conditioned for one purpose."

"And what purpose was that?" asked Rory, even though he knew.

"My purpose is to kill the Doctor."

"The Gamma Forests and Demons Run," the Doctor said as he came face to face with River. "They wanted to use you Amy, or the baby but they settled on River instead."

"I'm all yours, sweetie," River said as she kissed the Doctor.

"Oi!" Amy called out angrily. "Don't."

River just shook her head and walked passed the Doctor to stand on the windowsill. "Would you look at that," she mused. "Berlin, on the eve of war. It's a whole world about to tear itself apart…" she paused and turned around. "It's my kind of town, don't you think."

"River…" Amy began. "Please."

"Amy, Rory don't follow me and yes, that is a warning."

"No warning for me?" asked the Doctor.

River shook her head. "No."

"And why is that?" asked the Doctor once more.

"Because my work is done, and so are you."

The Doctor took a step forward towards River but his legs wobbled and Amy was instantly at his side holding him up as he gripped his chest in pain.

"Doctor. What is it?" Amy asked worriedly. "What's wrong?"

"River?" asked the Doctor angrily. "What have you done?"

"It was never going to be a gun for you Doctor," she said as the Doctor collapsed on the floor. "The man of peace who understands every kind of warfare except perhaps, the most cruel."

The Doctor rubbed a finger against his lips and looked up at River.

"Kiss, kiss." She said with a smile as she jumped outside.

"What happened?" asked Rory. "What did she do?"

"Poisoned me," the Doctor said as Amy held him. "But I'll be fine."

"Really?" Amy asked, hoping that he was telling the truth.

"Well no," the Doctor admitted. "I'm dying. But I've got a plan."

"What plan?" she asked as she helped him to stand up.

"I'm not going to die," the Doctor said with a groan.

"What do we do?" asked Rory. "How can we help?"

"Take the sonic Rory," the Doctor said as he handed it to Rory. "The TARDIS will home in on it. Not go. Get after her."

Rory nodded and stood on the balcony looking down at the street.

"You said the smoke was deadly," Amy said as she helped the Doctor to the TARDIS.

"The smoke is fine," the Doctor said. "The poison will kill me first."

"You are not dying." Amy told him.

"That's the spirit," the Doctor grimaced. "Now, go after River."

"No way," Amy said shaking her head. "I'm staying with you."

"Amy…" the Doctor said as he opened the doors to the TARDIS. "Go."

"I'll be fine!" Rory told them as he saw River fight hand to hand against a group of soldiers and win. "You stay with the Doctor." With that said, Rory climbed out of the window leaving Amy and the Doctor to enter the TARDIS

.

"Extractor fans on!" the Doctor said and within seconds, fans sucked the smoke away. "Oh that's better…" he said as he hurried to the console with Amy just behind him. The minute that he reached the console however, the Doctor fell to the floor.

"Doctor…" Amy cried as she joined her husband.

"I'm shutting down," he said as Amy helped him to sit against the rail. "I'm going to need an interface. Voice interface. Come on… it's an emergency."

Both Amy and the Doctor looked to see a hologram of himself.

"Voice interface enabled."

"I'm going to the med lab," Amy told him. "See if I can find anything."

"Oh no, no, no!" the Doctor cried as Amy left his side. "Give me someone I like."

Amy paused and turned around just in time to see the hologram of her husband turn into a hologram of a blonde woman.

"Oh thanks," the Doctor said sarcastically. "Give me guilt. Rose was a great companion… I might have even cared a great deal for her once… but I ruined her life and left her stranded in a parallel universe so you'll forgive me TARDIS if I don't want to talk to her."

Amy fled the console room, not able to stomach the TARDIS bringing up previous companions as voice interfaces.

"Also guilt!" the Doctor cried as the hologram turned into an image of Martha. "Here she was, brilliant and smart and able to walk across the entire world to stop the Master but she just wasn't Rose and I just couldn't care for her the way that she wanted me to so… no."

The hologram flickered again into Donna. "And more guilt. A great mate who wanted nothing more than to save the world but then she had to go and become the Doctor-Donna and I had to erase all of her memories or else her brain would fry..." the Doctor sighed. "There must be someone left in the universe who I haven't screwed up yet."

"Voice interface enabled."

Amy paused at the sound of her own voice and ran back to the console room.

"Oh, Amelia Pond," the Doctor sighed. "Before I got it all wrong. My sweet little Amelia Pond."

"I am not Amelia Pond," the hologram stated. "I am a voice interface."

"Hey," the Doctor said deliriously. "Let's runaway and have adventures. Come along Pond."

Amy paused at the top of the stares and stared down at her husband as he talked to a hologram image of her younger self.

"I am not Amelia Pond. I am a voice interface."

"You are so Scottish," the Doctor replied. "How am I doing?"

"Your system has been contaminated by the poison of the Judas Tree," the hologram stated. "You will be dead in thirty-two minutes."

"So basically I'm going to have to regenerate,"

"Regenerations disabled. You will be dead in thirty-two minutes."

"Unless I'm cured, yeah?"

"There is no cure. You will be dead in thirty-two minutes."

Amy choked back a sob, unable to bear the thought of the Doctor dying.

"Why do you keep saying that?" the Doctor asked.

"Because you will be dead in thirty two minutes."

"See there you go again," he said as he struggled to get up, but was unable to do so. "Basically skipping thirty one whole minutes when I'm absolutely fine. Scottish, that's all I'm saying."

"You will be fine for thirty-one minutes. You will be dead in thirty two."

"Scotland's never conquered anywhere," the Doctor rambled. "Not even a Shetland… now come on. Amy needs me. Melody needs me. She's only a baby. I can't die now."

"You will not die now. You will die in thirty two minutes."

"I'm not going out in the first round," the Doctor said. "Ringing any bells?"

He gave out a cry in pain and completely collapsed to the floor. "Okay, I need something for the pain now. Come on Amelia. It's me. Please."

"I am not Amelia Pond. I am a voice interface."

"Amelia, listen to me, I can be brave for you. But you've got to tell me how."

"I am not Amelia Pond, I am the voice interface."

"Amelia…" the Doctor begged. "Amelia please…"

Amy could see that the Doctor's eyes were closing so she wrapped the TARDIS as hard as she could. "You tell him what he needs to know," she hissed quietly. "Or else we're both going to lose him, and I don't know about you Sexy, but I am not going to lose my husband now."

"Fish fingers and custard," the interface said suddenly.

The Doctor opened his eyes. "What did you say? Fish fingers and custard!" the Doctor laughed. "Oh Amelia Pond, fish fingers and custard," he pushed himself off the floor and used the console to pull himself up as Amy ran down the stairs.

"I couldn't find anything," she told him as he activated the TARDIS.

"Fish fingers and custard!" the Doctor said with glee as he looked to Amy.

The TARDIS gave the Doctor fish fingers and custard and he got changed into a top hat and tails. When Amy told him that he shouldn't be wearing something so ridiculous, the Doctor just told her that it would help him make it through the next twenty-five minutes. The TARDIS then landed and the Doctor opened the doors just in time to hear Rory say that River killed the Doctor.

"Sorry," he said. "Did you say she killed the Doctor?"

Rory— who wasn't really Rory but the Teselecta looked towards the Doctor who was leaning against the TARDIS on the dais.

"The Doctor?" the Doctor asked again. "Doctor Who?"

"You're dying," River remarked. "And you stopped to change?"

"Oh," the Doctor said with a spin. "You should always waste time when you don't have any. Time is not the boss of you, rule four hundred and eight." The Doctor came to a stop in front of the teselecta Rory. "Rory Williams, judgement death machine. Why am I not surprised?"

"You serious?" asked River with a raised eye brow.

"Sonic Cane," the Doctor said with a smile as he scanned Rory while Amy came out of the TARDIS. "I'm never knowingly serious and that's rule twenty seven, you might want to write these down." He paused and checked the readings. "Oh, he's a robot…with four hundred and twenty three life signs inside. It's a robot worked by tiny people. I love it! But how did you all get in there though?" The Doctor looked into the eye of the robot. "Bigger on the inside? No, it's basic miniaturization sustained by a compression field. That's cool. Though you should watch what you eat. It'll get you every time."

The Doctor held up the sonic cane. "Rory, if you're alright. Signal me."

Amy joined the Doctor as he received Rory's signal. "Thank you," the Doctor said before crying out in pain. Amy held him up as best she could, but the Doctor fell to the stairs. "Sorry, leg went to sleep. Just had a quick left leg power nap. I forgot I had one scheduled. Actually, I better stay sitting down. I think I hear the right one yawning."

River ran for the Doctor, determined to finish the job only the Teselecta held her in a beam of light.

"Don't you touch her," the Doctor ordered. "Do not harm her in any way."

"Why would you care?" asked Rory in a monotone voice. "She is the woman who kills you."

"He's not dead," Amy pointed out.

"No," the Doctor agreed. "I am not dead."

"You are dying."

"Well at least I'm not a time-travelling shape-shifting robot operated by miniaturized cross people, which, I have got to admit, I didn't see coming," he paused and pointed the cane at River. "What do you want with her?"

"She is River Song. According to our records, she is the woman who kills the Doctor."

"Well I am the Doctor," the Doctor stated. "Why do you care?"

"Throughout history, many criminals have gone unpunished in their lifte times. Time travel has its responsibilities."

The Doctor laughed. "You got time travel so you decided to punish dead people?"

"We don't kill them," the Teselecta assured. "We extract them near the end of their established timelines."

"News flash, but River Song is at the beginning of her timeline," the Doctor told the Teselecta. "You can't have her. Not now."

"If you know that River kills the Doctor now, then you must know a lot about him," Amy pointed out.

"That's right," the Doctor agreed. "Must have my entire biography in there. I'd love to have a peak."

"Our records are sealed to the public," the Teselecta told her. "Foreknowledge is dangerous."

"Yes well I'll be dead in three minutes," the Doctor said. "There isn't much foreknowledge left."

"Listen you," Amy said as she stood up and came face to face with the robot with the image of Rory. "This man is my husband, as his next of kin I am ordering you to tell him what he wants to know."

The robot blinked and then said. "Records available. Ask your questions."

"Question," the Doctor said as he stood with great effort. "I'm dying. Who wants me dead?"

"The silence."

"What is the silence?" the Doctor asked. "Why is it called that? What does it mean?"

"The Silence in not a species. It is a religious order. Their core belief is that silence will fall when the question is asked."

"Question?" asked Amy. "What question?"

"The first question. The oldest question in the universe. Hidden in plain sight."

"What is the question?" asked the Doctor.

"Unknown."

"Well fat lot of use that is…" the Doctor paused as he fell to the floor. Amy ran back to his side. "Kidneys are always the first to quit. I've had better you know."

River began to cry out in pain and Amy stood up and went back to the robot. "Stop!" she ordered. "She's at the beginning of her timeline, you can't kill her. Don't kill her!"

Robot Rory blinked a couple of times and River suddenly came crashing down to the ground. The Doctor reached out his cane and hooked her by the leg. "Don't run." He pleaded. "I know that you're scared River. But never run when you're scared. Rule seven. Please."

Rory suddenly appeared before them and the robot version of him vanished into thin air.

Amy gave her friend a hug before turning back to her husband. "Doctor," she said with tears in her eyes as she knelt down beside him. "Doctor you can't die now. I've just got you back."

"Oh Pond…"

"I know that you don't die now."

"You've got a schedule for everything."

The Doctor shuddered and Amy cried out as she held her husband. "No… no…"

"Amy…" River began, feeling compassion for the red head's pain.

"Save him," she pleaded. "I need you to save him."

River shook her head. "I can't."

"But you have to," Amy cried out.

"Amy—"

"Listen I'm sorry that you were brainwashed. And I'm sorry that the Silence took you but you're a part of me. And if you're a part of me then a part of you must love the Doctor," Amy pleaded. "Don't let him die. You poisoned him, you must have the anecdote!"

"There is no anecdote," River said apologetically.

"That's not good enough," Amy cried out. "You must be able to do something. Can't you do anything?"

River stood there, waiting for a couple endless minutes contemplating things over. Then she nodded and closed her eyes. Suddenly her hands began to glow.

"What are you doing?" asked Rory.

"Tell me Amy," River began, opening her eyes. "The Doctor… he's worth it?"

"Yes," Amy told her. "Yes he is."

River nodded and placed a hand on either side of the Doctor's head. Suddenly he took an intake of breath and opened his eyes. He stared at River in astonishment as she kissed him on the forehead transferring all of her energy to him.

.

"So what happened?" asked Rory. "I don't understand."

"She's a part of Amy, and Amy has been changed by the baby." The Doctor explained. "River is part time lord, or at least she was. She used up all her regenerations."

"And you?" asked Rory. "Does that mean you'll regenerate too?"

Amy nodded. "I guess it does."

"So… you really do belong to him then."

Amy sighed and took her friends hand. "I always did."

Rory sighed and turned back to the bed where River was just opening her eyes. "You're alright," she said as she looked to the Doctor. "You said that no one could save you, but you knew?"

The Doctor nodded. "Rule one, the Doctor lies."

"She just needs to rest," said a nurse who was at the end of River's bed. "She'll be fine."

"Yes," the Doctor agreed as he set a TARDIS journal down on the side table. "And she'll be amazing too…"

River drifted off to sleep again and the trio left her alone.

.

"So will she be okay?" asked Rory once they were in the TARDIS.

"She's River Song," the Doctor pointed out. "She'll be fine."

"But the Teselecta said that she killed you," Amy said.

"She tried and saved him," Rory pointed out.

"Right," the Doctor agreed with a smile.

"But the River that we know is in prison," Amy added.

"Isn't she in prison for murdering you?" asked Rory.

Amy turned to her husband fearfully. "Please tell me that we stopped her."

The Doctor gave Amy a reassuring kiss on her forehead. "She stopped herself Amy by saving me."

Amy leaned into her husband and embraced him tightly. "So she did."

.

"Well," Rory began as Amy walked him to his door. "That was fun."

"Thank you," Amy said with a smile. "I couldn't have done this with out you and…" she paused as she heard the TARDIS whirring away. She turned to see it dematerialize before her eyes.

"Oh Amy…" Rory sighed. "I'm sorry."

Amy just shook her head and gritted her teeth. "I am going to kill him."

"What are you going to do?" he asked her. "I doubt that the Doctor will fall for the same trick twice."

"No," Amy agreed. "I doubt that he will either."

"So I ask again, what are you going to do?"

Amy just turned to Rory. "I'm going to go after my husband."

TBC

_Author's Note 2: Well there you have it. My interpretation of "Let's Kill Hitler" which was an episode which I loved. I really hope that you all really liked how I changed things and I hope that you'll leave a review. I'm going to move on to "The Wedding of River Song" now, although River is not going to be getting married. With that chapter, there'll probably only going to be one more after that… or episode 13 of series 6 might be broken up into two chapters. So please take the time to review! You only have one, maybe two more chances left. _


	32. Falling to Pieces

DISCLAIMER: The characters and plotlines of Doctor Who do not belong to me. They belong to the BBC, Russell T. Davies, Steven Moffat and all the other wonderful writers. I am just borrowing them for my own enjoyment, and yours too hopefully.

_Author's Note: So, "The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe" was by far and away the best Doctor Who Christmas special ever and while I loved it I will NOT be weaving it into my story and I have decided that it will be done after the next chapter. So please beloved readers, take the time to review, this is your second to last chance. _

**Chapter Thirty – Two: Falling to Pieces**

"Well…" the Doctor began sadly as he looked at Craig. "Now it's time. I have to go."

"Doctor," Craig said warily. "I know that something's wrong. I can help you."

"Nobody can help me," the Doctor whispered sadly. "I hope Sophie won't mind," he continued as he held up some blue envelopes. "I need these."

"Where are you going to go?" Craig asked.

"America," the Doctor replied.

"Sophie will be home any second," Craig said. "Are you sure?"

"I can't miss this appointment Craig," the Doctor apologized. "Goodbye mate."

"Wait there," Craig told him. "One second." Craig left the room leaving the Doctor on his own for a second. When Craig returned, the Doctor saw that he was holding a Stetson Cowboy Hat in his hands. "For you," Craig told him as he put the hat on the Doctor's head. "You ride 'em partner."

The Doctor grinned. "Oh, thanks."

The Doctor gave Craig a smile and turned to leave.

"Wait," Craig said, stopping the Doctor in his tracks as he looked at the Doctor's hands for the first time. "You're wearing a ring."

"What?" the Doctor asked as he looked to his hands, he had been travelling quite a while without Amy and Melody. He had saved so many people and seen so many things that he had almost but not quite forgotten that he was still wearing the ring. "Oh, yes."

"That's a wedding ring," Craig told him. "Are you married Doctor?"

The Doctor looked from the ring up at Craig. "Yes actually, I am."

Craig shook his head. "And why isn't your wife with you?"

"I'll tell you a secret Craig," the Doctor whispered. "I'm going to my death."

"What?" Craig exclaimed in horror. "No."

"Yes," the Doctor assured. "It's a fixed point in time. I can't stop it."

"But you can't die," Craig told him. "What kind of world will this be if you die?"

The Doctor smiled sadly at Craig. "A better one I think."

Craig shook his head. "No. No you're so wrong."

"Goodbye mate," the Doctor said stepping backwards. "I must be going."

"No!" Craig insisted as the sounds of keys in the front door distracted him. The Doctor used the moment of distraction to leave. He hadn't wanted to tell Craig where he was going. He really just wanted to save a friend and then leave but then Craig had to go and ask him about the ring and it just made him question whether or not he was doing the right thing.

As he walked down the street towards the TARDIS, the Doctor couldn't help but wonder whether or not he should go back to his family. He hadn't had a family in such a long time and while he wanted to save himself from losing Amy on some misguided adventure, he couldn't help but wonder if it was fair of him to make her lose him.

_And what about Melody?_ He asked himself as he stopped in front of the TARDIS door. _She's already grown up without a father once… can I really let her grow up without me again._ The Doctor shook his head and placed a hand on the TARDIS. "Well then old girl…" he said sadly. "One last trip."

…

Amy stood pacing in her front room. It had taken her ages to track down the mysterious Jack Harkness. At first she had been terrified that he had left the planet, but luckily she had managed to find him and Amy knew that he would be arriving on her doorstep any minute. "Now are you sure you want to do this?" asked Rory as he held baby Melody, watching as Amy paced. "I mean, he did leave you for a reason."

"You were there Rory," Amy said angrily. "You saw him die."

"Yes I know," Rory said with a nod of his head. "And you weren't there…"

"Well I intend to be there," Amy told him. "I intend on stopping everything."

"Hello?" came a voice from the front hall. "Amy?"

"Jack!" Amy exclaimed as she went to the front door. "You're here."

"Your message said urgent," Jack said as Amy led him to the sitting room.

"It is," Amy assured. "It really, really is."

"What is it?" asked Jack. "What's wrong?"

"It's the Doctor," Amy told him.

"What about the Doctor?"

"He's going to his death," Amy whispered, trying not to cry.

"But the Doctor can't die," Jack said.

"I know," Rory agreed. "But I was there. I saw it happen."

"We have to stop him," Jack stated. "We have to save him."

Amy nodded. "Yes we do Jack, and that's why you're here. I need your help."

"Just tell me what I can do Amy, and I'll do it."

…

The Doctor stood at the console of the TARDIS contemplating going to his end when suddenly a thought struck him. He had been prepared to meet his end with no complaint but what Craig had said was resounding in his mind. What sort of world, what sort of universe would it be without him? And what would his family be like without him either. Those two questions made the Doctor change his mind, if he was going to meet his end, and he was almost sure that there was going to be no way out of it this time, he was going to go with all the information he could gather.

"I still have time don't I old girl…" he whispered to the TARDIS as he flipped a switch. "…let's go see if we can't figure this one out."

…

"Tick, tock. Goes the Clock. And what now shall we play?" came a voice from the shadows. River Song, the newly appointed Doctor River Song looked up and looked around but saw that no one was there. She was just about to go back to her reading when the voice sounded again. "Tick, tock. Goes the Clock. Now summer's gone away."

"Hello?" asked River tentatively. "Is there someone there?"

"It's such a lovely song," stated Madame Kovarian as she stepped out of the shadows.

"It's you…" River Song hissed, a part of her mind remembering Kovarian.

"Yes it's me," Madame Kovarian said as two of the Silence stepped beside her.

"What are they?" River asked. "What are those things?"

"So they made you a Doctor today did they?" asked Madame Kovarian, totally ignoring River's question. "You're Doctor River Song. How clever you must be. Do you understand what this date is?" she asked, pointing to a date in River's diary, which read April 22, 2011. Lake Silence. Utah. America.

River nodded. "According to some accounts, it's the day the Doctor dies."

Kovairan nodded. "Yes indeed. By Silencio Lake on the Plain of Sighs, an impossible astronaut will rise from the deep and strike the Time Lord dead."

River shook her head as she sat down. "It's just a story."

"Yes," Kovarian agreed. "And this is where it begins."

Kovarian looked to the door and two soldiers entered carrying an astronaut suit.

"What is that?" asked River. "What are you doing here?"

"You never escaped us River," Madame Kovarian told her. "We were always watching."

The Soldiers placed the helmet down before River and then grabbed her.

"Watching me… Kovarian, what are you doing?"

"Yeah," came an extra voice. "That's what I'd like to know."

The Soldiers, Madame Kovarian and River turned and out of the shadows stepped Amelia Pond, wife to the man that they were conspiring to kill. She had put two and two together and figured that River Song was the one to kill the Doctor whether on purpose or by force and so Amy decided to stop River from ever getting inside the Astronaut suit.

"Amy Pond," Madame Kovarian whispered. "You're not supposed to be here."

"I don't know about that," Amy retorted as she held up a gun, which she had borrowed of Jack who had been more than willing to lend her his wrist vortex manipulator so that she could find River easily without having a TARDIS around. "You're about to force River to kill my husband again… what kind of wife would I be if I just let that slide?"

Madame Kovarian grinned. "So you've come to play the hero have you?"

Amy nodded. "You better believe it,"

Kovarian laughed. "Amy, Amy… if you really wanted to save your beloved Doctor, then you should have come with some backup."

Amy's brave demeanor faltered only for a second and in that second the two Silence whom had been standing beside Madame Kovarian had her restrained. Amy cursed internally at letting them out of her sight. She struggled but it was no use, she was trapped.

"So brave," Madame Kovarian said with a smile as she held up the helmet. "But so misguided."

Amy struggled but could not move, and River tried to save her but the soldiers held her tight as well.

"River," Amy pleaded. "You've got to get help. Get Rory. Get Jack. Get anyone but please… save the Doctor."

"I'll try," River promised as she noticed Amy using the soldiers who gripped her arms as a way to get a bracelet off her wrist.

"Tick, Tock. Goes the Clock. And all the years they fly," Madame Kovarian taunted as she placed the helmet on Amy, not caring in the slightest that she was asking River for help. "Tick Tock. Goes the Clock. For your love will surely die," she continued and before Amy could say another thing her vision blurred and then went dark.

…

"Imagine you were dying," the Doctor said as he approached his oldest and deadliest enemy. "Imagine that you were afraid and a long way from home, and in terrible pain. Just when you thought it couldn't get worse you looked up… and saw the face of the devil himself…" the Doctor paused and grinned. "Hello Dalek."

The Dalek was on its side, dying. "Emergency," it stated. "Emergency."

"Hush now," the Doctor ordered as he soniced the metal being. "I need some information from your data core. Everything that you and your kind know about the Silence."

The Doctor downloaded the information to his sonic and then left the Dalek to die.

…

Amy opened her eyes and found herself beneath the water. She panicked and tried to move but found that she couldn't. _Oh god, _she thought in dismay as she closed her eye again. _Oh god I'm going to kill the Doctor… I'm going to kill my husband and there's nothing that I can do to stop it…_

…

The Doctor entered a bar and walked straight up to a bartender who was red-skinned. "Gideon Vandaleur," the Doctor said. "Get him now."

The red-skinned alien didn't turn around. "Who says he's here?"

The Doctor placed the eyestalk of the Dalek down on the counter. The bartender turned around before scurried off. The Doctor found an empty table and sat down, waiting for the man that he was waiting for. Before long, a hooded figure came over and sat down and the Doctor noticed that the man wore an eye patch.

"Father Gideon Vandaleur," the Doctor said almost lazily. "Former envoy of the Silence… my condolences."

Vandeleur looked to the Doctor quizzically. "Your what?"

"Gideon Vandaleur has been dead for six months."

Vaneleur winced while the Doctor soniced him.

"Ah-ha," the Doctor stated as he looked at the readings. "I knew it. Could I speak to the Captain please?" Moments later the Doctor looked into the eye and saw Captain Carter, the man who he had met earlier in Berlin. "Hello again!" the Doctor greeted. "The Teselecta! The time travelling, shape changing robot powered by miniaturized people. I'll never get bored of that. It's been a long time since Berlin."

"Doctor," the Captain asked. "What have you done to our systems."

"Oh they'll be fine," the Doctor assured. "If you behave. Now, this unit can disguise itself as anyone in the universe, so if you're posing as Vandaleur, you're investigating the Silence. I want you to tell me about them."

Vandeleur, the robot nodded. "What do you want to know."

"Just one thing, and one thing only."

"What?"

The Doctor leaned forward. "Their weakest link."

"We have yet to discover that," the Teselecta Vandeleur told him. "However, we do know of a Viking who might know more than we do."

"And where can I find him?" asked the Doctor.

…

"Are you sure that we should have left her on her own?" Rory asked as he paced in circles while Jack held onto baby Melody. "I mean, this is Amy we're talking about."

"From what you've told me, she's more than capable of handling herself." Jack replied. "I mean she reimagined the Doctor into existence. Not many people can do that."

"Yeah I know," Rory agreed. "But I still feel like something's wrong."

"And something is," came River as she suddenly appeared out of thin air, startling baby Melody and causing her to cry.

"What is it?" Rory asked, fear settling into the pit of his stomach.

"Something has happened to Amy," Jack added. "Or is the Doctor dead?"

"The Doctor is already dead if you consider the timeline," River stated. "However it is Amy that we need to worry about."

"What happened to her?" asked Rory.

"She came to see me," River explained. "But Madame Kovarian was there with her soldiers and…something else."

"The Silence," Rory interjected. "They make you forget."

River nodded. "Yes I know… I think," she shook her head. "Kovarian was going to take me. I think that she was going to use me to kill the Doctor."

"Well we do know that you're in prison for killing a man."

"Shush," Jack snapped looking between River and Rory. He didn't know much about River, but what little Rory had told him about their adventures with the curly-haired female made him realize that she was one of the few companions who met the Doctor out of order and that they were going to have to be very careful about what they said considering that they were meeting a River who was at the very beginning of her timeline.

"Spoilers," River said with a nod. "I know, but that doesn't matter right now. What matters is that instead of taking me, they took Amy…" River paused and looked at Rory. "Your Amy is going to be in the spacesuit at Lake Silenco in Utah instead of me. She's going to kill the Doctor unless we can do something about it."

…

It was hard, but the Doctor managed to gain an audience with the Viking. The only way to do that was enter a competition of live chess. The Doctor survived long enough to face off against the Viking who was also wearing an eye patch. It was late in the game, and one of the pieces was charges with electricity. The crowd was cheering, and the Viking hesitated.

"The crowd is getting restless," the Doctor taunted. "They know that the Queen is your only move, however you've already moved it twelve times. There are four million volts running through it…" the Doctor paused and looked at the Viking. "This is live chess mate. Even with the gauntlet you'll never make it to bishop four alive."

The Viking nodded. "I am a dead man."

"Yes," the Doctor agreed. "You are."

"You must concede the game."

"And why would I do that?" asked the Doctor. "I'm winning."

"I'll tell you what you need to know," the Viking promised.

"Oh would you?" asked the Doctor. "I want to know about the Silence."

"They will kill me for betraying them," the Viking backtracked.

"They are going to kill me too," the Doctor pointed out. "And I was just going to lie down and take it however, I changed my mind. I want to know why I have to die and how I can stop it."

The Viking shook his head. "I can't help you."

"Then move your piece,"

"I said that I can't help you," the Viking added. "But Dorium Maldovar can."

"Dorium is dead."

"Beheaded by the monks at Demon's Run," the Viking said. "If you concede the game Doctor, I will take you to him."

The Doctor nodded and conceded the game.

…

"Don't worry August," Rory told Amy's father in hushed undertones. "We're going to bring your daughter and your son-in-law back."

"I know you will," August whispered, glancing over his shoulder where his wife was playing with the baby in the sitting room. "And I'm not going to breathe a word of this to anyone."

"Thank you," Rory stated. "We'll be in touch."

…

The Doctor followed the Viking through an underground tunnel with a flashlight in his hand. He couldn't help but noticing the skulls that adorned every surface. To the Doctor it was one of the least nice places that he'd ever visited however he knew that it was all to a purpose. They were in the Seventh Transept, a place where the Headless Monks kept their leftovers.

"Watch your step," the Viking told the Doctor. "There are traps everywhere."

The Doctor looked around and heard the sound of a rat. "Ew," he complained in a rather whiny tone. "I hate rats."

"There are no rats in the transept," the Viking said.

"Oh," the Doctor breathed a sigh of relief. "Good."

"The skulls eat them," the Viking added, noticing as the skulls on the shelves turned to watch their progress. "The Headless Monks behead you when you're alive… remember?"

The tunnel that they were walking through opened up into a room where there were pedestals in the centre with wooden boxes resting upon them. The Doctor knew that heads must be in the boxes, but the only thing that he couldn't figure out was why. He asked the Viking why it was so and the Viking told him that it was because like everything some people are rich and some people are poor.

"Dorium Maldovar was anything but poor," the Viking stated as he put a torch into a sconce. The Doctor scanned the boxes with his sonic until he came to a beautifully decorated one. Using the sonic the Doctor opened the box and peered at the seemingly dead head of Dorium.

"Thank you," the Doctor said to the Viking.

"My pleasure," the Viking stated as he held up a gun. "This saves me the trouble of burying you. No one makes a fool of me in Chess and lives to tell the tale."

The Doctor turned to see the gun being pointed at him and the Viking approaching him. With one glance down the Doctor could see that the Viking was going to step on a trap however before the Doctor could say anything the Viking fell through and when the Doctor looked over the edge he could just see the Viking helmet disappearing beneath a mound of skulls. Knowing that he would be in trouble if the skulls went after him, the Doctor slammed the door shut and soniced it so that it wouldn't open again. The slamming of the trapdoor woke Dorium up and he peered into the darkness of his room curiously.

"Hello?" he asked. "Is someone there?"

"Yes," the Doctor said as he walked over. "I am."

"Oh Doctor it is good to see you," Dorium said happily.

"It's good to see you too again friend."

"The monks," Dorium continued. "They turned on me."

"Yes," the Doctor agreed. "They did."

"Give it to me straight Doctor," Dorium pleaded. "My injuries?"

The Doctor looked Dorium and his pedestal up and down. "Um…"

Dorium let out a laugh. "Oh I am sorry," he apologized. "It's a nasty trick but I do love pulling it on the few brave souls who dare to venture into the transept…" Dorium paused and looked pointedly at the Doctor. "Why are you here anyway?"

"I need to know about the Silence."

Dorium rolled his eyes. "What is there to know? They are a religious order of great power and great discretion. They are the sentinels of history and they like to ensure that history shall continue."

"Where does wanting me dead fit in?" the Doctor asked.

"It doesn't," Dorium said. "You do a great many things for this universe Doctor, however the Silence doesn't want you to remain alive."

"And why is that?"

"You may do great things, but you are a man with a long and dangerous past," Dorium pointed out. "And your future is infinitely more terrifying. The Silence believe that it must be averted."

"What's in my future that could be so bad?"

"Think of the path that you've been on," Dorium prompted. "How many lives have you saved?"

"Hundreds," the Doctor said. "Millions maybe."

"Yes and how many have lost their life because of you?"

The Doctor closed his eyes, far too many to count had died because of him.

"It will be on the fields of Trenzalore, at the fall of the Eleventh, when no living creature can speak falsely or fail to answer… a question will be asked and it is a questions that must never, ever be answered."

The Doctor pulled out a notebook. "Silence will fall when the question is asked."

"Yes," Dorium confirmed. "However Silence must fall would be a better translation. However whether it is the fall of the Silence or silence falling upon the universe is something that no one can answer. The Silence are determined that the question will never be answered and that you will never ever reach Trenzalore."

The Doctor shook his head. "I can avoid Trenzalore if I wanted, or I could go there right now… what is this question anyways?"

"It's the first question," Dorium said. "The oldest question in the universe. Hidden in plain sight and asked by all. Would you like to know what it is?"

"Yes!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"Are you sure?" Dorium asked as the skulls turned towards them.

"Course I'm sure," the Doctor stated, even though he wasn't.

"Then I'll tell you," Dorium said with a laugh. "Though it's already been asked countless times already… the question that will be asked at Trenzalore is one that shall be asked of you Doctor, one that has been asked and avoided many, many times."

The Doctor's eyes widened and Dorium laughed again. "So you know."

"I know but I don't understand," the Doctor stated as he closed Dorium's box. "You're coming with me."

The Doctor walked through the transept back to the TARIDS with Dorium complaining the entire way. "This isn't my fault you know," he said in a muffled voice. "Put me back, please."

The Doctor ignored him and placed the box down on a seat by the console before working the controls.

"Ow," Dorium muttered. "I've fallen on my nose… Doctor this is no good. We all have to die, you more than most. You do see that don't you? You know what the question is without being told. You must see that you have to die."

The Doctor said nothing, he just pulled up his time and date and place of death and stared at it wondering if he had to die because of who he was.

"Please Doctor open my hatch, I've got a headache," Dorium pleaded. "Which means more than it used too…" The Doctor sighed and opened the box only to see that Dorium's head was upside down. "Thank you Doctor."

"Answer me this Dorium," the Doctor ordered. "Why Lake Silencio? Why Utah?"

"It was a still point in time," Dorium said. "Made it easier to be a fixed point in time…and your death is a fixed point."

"I've changed fixed points before," the Doctor stated. "I can again."

"And be Time Lord Victorius?" Dorium asked. "No. I don't think so."

The Doctor shuddered and shook his head. "Then I'll run. I've been running all my life, why should I stop now?"

"Because you can't run away from this," Dorium said. "Not now when you know what's at stake. Why your life ends."

"But it's my life. And I have a family. And I am not dying today."

"I am sorry that you have found a family now after all this time," Dorium said sympathetically. "But why delay? How long have you been delaying already?"

"Oh I've been knocking about," the Doctor said as he dialed the TARDIS phone. "It's been a bit of a farewell tour. I've got things to do, people to see. There's always more. I could invent a new colour or save the Dodo bird. I could be a Beatle…" the Doctor paused and stood up straighter. "Get him! Tell him that we're going out and that it's all going to be on me except for the driving and the money as always…" the Doctor grinned and turned back to Dorium.

"I've got a TARDIS you know, a time machine. For me, it's all going on. For me, it never stops. Liz the first is waiting in a glade to elope with me, though I'm never going back now seeing that I really am married. I could help Rose Tyler with her homework. See Martha graduate from Medical School. Visit Donna's babies or even go on all of Jack's stag parties in one night which in and of itself will take quite a while."

"Time," Dorium said. "Catches up with us all."

"It never shall lay a glove on me…" he assured. "Hello?"

"Doctor," came the voice of a nurse. "I am so sorry. But we didn't know how to contact you. I am so very afraid that Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart passed away a few months ago…." There was silence and the nurse continued. "Doctor are you there?"

"Yes," the Doctor said, all the wind knocked out of his sails. "Yes I…"

"It was peaceful," the nurse assured. "He talked about you a lot. If that's any comfort. Always made us poor an extra brandy in case you came round one of these days."

"Thank you…" the Doctor said with a heavy sigh. "Give his family my regards." Without another word the Doctor hung up and re-dialed. "Hello?" he asked. "Luke?"

"Doctor?" asked Luke. "How did you know?"

"How did I know what?" the Doctor asked, a horrible feeling growing in the pit of his stomach. "Luke… what's going on?"

"It's Mum," Luke said in a broken voice. "She's gone."

The Doctor's eyes widened and he leaned against the console. "What?"

"She's gone," Luke repeated sadly. "I'm so sorry Doctor."

"No Luke," the Doctor said with a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry."

The Doctor hung up the phone and put his face in his hands.

"Doctor?" asked Dorium. "Something wrong?"

The Doctor shook his head before looking up, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the blue envelopes. "Nothing's wrong," he told Dorium as he looked at the envelopes. "Its time."

The Doctor piloted the TARDIS to the bar where he first encountered the Teselecta who he found to still be in the shape of Vandeleur. "Doctor," he stated warmly. "Good to see you."

"I need your help," the Doctor said. "Could you deliver these?"

Vandelur, and Captain Carter within looked at the messages on the table. "Of course, but surely you could deliver the messages yourself."

"I could," the Doctor said. "But it would mean crossing my own timeline."

"According to our files this is your end."

"I know," the Doctor said. "And if you could get a message to Amelia Pond of Ledworth, twenty-eleven and tell her that I'm sorry and that I love her…" the Doctor paused and blinked back a tear. "…I would really appreciate that."

"We will deliver your messages Doctor, you can depend on us."

"Thank you," the Doctor stated as he stood up.

"Doctor," the Vandaleur stated as the Doctor headed to the door. "Whatever you think of us, we are champions of law and order just as you have always been. We, along with many others shall mourn your passing and we shall never forget you…. Is there nothing else that we can do for you?"

The Doctor shook his head and exited the bar. There was nothing that a form-changing robot with little people inside could do for him… but the Doctor stopped dead as he realized that there was something that the Teselecta could do for him. And so, he turned back and re-entered the bar.


	33. The Day Time Died part 1

DISCLAIMER: The characters and plotlines of Doctor Who do not belong to me. They belong to the BBC, Russell T. Davies, Steven Moffat and all the other wonderful writers. I am just borrowing them for my own enjoyment, and yours too hopefully.

**Chapter Thirty – Three: The Day Time Died (part 1)**

The Holy Roman Emperor, Winston Churchill sat at his desk after being examined by his doctor, the Silurian Malokeh who was in jovial spirits. "Not to many late night in Gaul I hope," he asked his Emperor.

"No, no," Churchill assured. "Just the one, when I had an argument with Cleopatra. She's a dreadful woman, an excellent dancer though."

"Well I can tell that from your blood pressure."

Churchill sighed and looked at the clock. "What time do you have?"

"Two minutes past five Caesar," Malokeh said as he checked his wath. "As always."

"Exactly," Churchill pointed out. "As always. It is always two minutes past five. Day or night, night or day… it is always two minutes past five in the afternoon. Why is that?"

"Because that is the time Caesar," Malokeh stated.

"And the date," Churchill continued. "Always the twenty-second of April. Does that not bother you Malokeh?"

Malokeh shook his head. "The date and time have always been the same Caesar. Why should it start bothering me now?"

"Well I don't know but it's bothering me."

"And what would you like me to do about that Caesar?"

"I want to see the Soothsayer. Where is he?"

"In the tower," Malokeh said with a sigh. "Where you threw him."

"I know that I threw him there," Churchill boomed. "Get him!"

It took only moments for the soothsayer to be brought to Churchill.

"Leave us!" Churchill ordered as the soothsayer who was dressed in a tunic and sandals was thrown to the floor at Churchill's feet. The soldiers obeyed their Caesar and left, leaving Churchill to confront the soothsayer. "Tick Tock goes the clock as the old song says, but they don't, do they," he rambled. "The clocks never tick. Something has happened to time. That's what you say. It's what you never stop saying. All of history is happening at once. All of time is dying. But what does that mean? What happened? Explain it to me in terms that I can understand. What has happened to time?"

The soothsayer, who was really a very much alive Doctor looked up.

"Well?" prompted Churchill. "What happened?"

And so the Doctor began to recount his tale. Of how he had heard that Silence would fall and how he was hurtling towards a fixed point in time. He told Churchill of how he wanted to know why he had to die and how it took him to other worlds, carnivorous skulls and talking heads. All of which Churchill thought was ridiculous.

"I should have you executed for making up such lies," Churchill stated as he helped the Doctor into a chair. "I don't know why I'm listening to you."

"You're listening to me oh great Caesar because in another reality you and I are friends," the Doctor explained. "We are very good friends and you have called upon my aide on more than one occasion. You sense that just as sure as you sense that there is something wrong with time."

"Yes you said that it all revolves around your death, but how?"

And so the Doctor continued his tale, of how Dorium told him that it all hinged around a question and how he knew what it was… though the Doctor didn't actually tell Churchill what the question was.

"Why does this question mean your death?"

"Suppose that there was a man who knew a secret," the Doctor explained. "And that this secret was the most terrible and dangerous secret which could never be told. How would you erase that secret from the world? How would you destroy it forever before it could be spoken?"

The Doctor looked pityingly at the Doctor. "I'd destroy the man."

"And Silence would fall. All the times that I heard those words, I never realized that it was my silence, my death that was being proclaimed. And even though there is the promise that silence must fall at Trenzalore, the order of the Silence choose to end me. Silence will fall in Utah. The Doctor will fall…" the Doctor paused and looked around. While he had been telling Churchill his story they had moved; they were no longer in his office they were somewhere else.

"Where is this?" the Doctor asked.

"This is the Senate Room," Churchill explained.

"But why did we leave your office?"

"Well we wanted a stroll didn't we?" Churchill stated.

"I think I've been running," the Doctor remarked, after which he noticed something in Churchill's hand. "Why do you have your revolver?"

"Huh?" asked Churchill as he looked to the gun. "Oh well, you're a dangerous man Soothsayer, are you not? These people want to kill you."

The Doctor glanced away and at his left arm where he saw a black line. He knew what that meant. It meant that there were Silence in the palace and they were running from them. The Doctor also knew that Churchill didn't need to know that fact just yet. "Yes," the Doctor ended up agreeing. "I am."

"So resume your story."

And so the Doctor continued with his explanation of what lead to things being the way they were. He explained how he had called up two of his very old friends to celebrate the last days of his life and how he learned that both of them had passed.

"It's the curse of being a Time Lord," the Doctor explained. "By living out of time, you miss some of the most important moments. When I was first setting out the Brigadier and I had so many adventures together. And Sarah… dear Sarah Jane she was the best of companions… well they all have been the best and I've let them all down. I never stop letting them down, even at the very end. When I sent the letters."

"Why would you do that?" asked Churchill. "Of all the things that you've told me I find this the hardest to believe. Why would you invite your friends to see your death."

The Doctor just looked sadly at Churchill. "I knew that I was destined to die, but I knew that I didn't have to die alone. I didn't want to die alone. Not when I've been alone for so long. As it stood, of the five letters that I sent out, only three ended up showing. I sent one to my past self to rescue my friends," the Doctor explained. "I knew that I had done that because I knew I had received it and the other… well she had been with past me so I knew that she wouldn't be there either."

The Doctor paused and shook his head. "Rory and River did show up and I knew that I would be remembering the best of me. Rory had been a nervous shell of a man when I first met him but somewhere along our adventures, even though he got his heart broken in the end he found himself.

And River… mysterious River, I may know how she came about but I still don't know a lot about her and I suppose now that I never will. What I do know that if it was time for me to go then I'd go remembering what I was leaving. I would remember the best and my friends have always been the best of me."

"You didn't tell them what was going to happen?"

The Doctor shook his head. "No, and not to be rude Caesar but it would help if you didn't keep asking questions…" the Doctor paused and saw two more tally marks on his arm. "We don't have much time," he whispered as he launched once more into his tale.

"Everything was in place…" the Doctor told Churchill. "I only had to die."

…

"Oh my god…" River whispered as she saw an astronaut standing there.

"What in the name of… is that?" asked Rory.

"You both need to stay back," the Doctor told them. "Whatever happens now, you do not interfere. Clear?"

Rory and River nodded as the Doctor walked towards the astronaut. The Doctor stood before the instrument of his death, feeling as though he had come full circle. "Hello," he whispered. "I know that it's you…"

The Astronaut lifted it's visor and the Doctor saw Amy instead.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "The suit's in control."

"Amy?" the Doctor asked, trying not to freak out lest River and Rory interfere. "What are you doing here? You're not supposed to be here."

"Not with them," she replied as she glanced out of the corner of her eye at her friends. "No I didn't come with them."

"But it's supposed to be River," the Doctor said. "She killed me. She kills me."

"Kovarian was going to take her," Amy explained. "But I wasn't going to let you die so I went to her to try and take her away. Kovarian took me instead. There's nothing I can do, the suit is powering up."

"It's alright," the Doctor lied, knowing that he had to comfort his wife. "This has to happen."

"No," Amy protested. "This can't happen. I won't let it happen."

"Amy please… just let go."

"Run," she pleaded. "For the love of god, run."

"I did run," the Doctor told her. "Running brought me here."

"To your death? To my death?"

"You won't die," the Doctor assured.

"I will," Amy insisted. "If I have to live another day without you, especially knowing that I killed you… I'll die."

"Amy it's alright," the Doctor whispered. "This is where I die. It's a fixed point. This must happen, it always happen… though I didn't know that it happened because you. I'm so sorry that it was you."

"But time has changed yeah?" Amy asked. "Because that River there is still serving time for a murder that she clearly didn't commit."

The Doctor shrugged his shoulders. "She has your DNA. Maybe that's why."

"Please," Amy pleaded as the arm of the suit rises. "My love please. Run."

The Doctor shook his head. "I can't. And don't worry, this isn't your fault."

"But it is," Amy protested. "If I had just stayed put."

"Then you wouldn't be my mad and impossible Amelia Pond."

"Oh Doctor," Amy cried as her arm came to a ninety degree angle. "Run."

The Doctor shook his head with tears in his eyes. It was breaking his heart that he was dying by his wife's hand but he knew that he couldn't go anywhere.

"Time can be rewritten,"

"Don't you dare," the Doctor told her. "Goodbye Amelia."

Amy shook her head within the suit and let out a sob as the Doctor closed his eyes accepting the fate that was to befall him. There were five sonic gunshots and the Doctor jerked with each one. When he realized that he was still alive he cracked open an eye to see a very relieved Amelia Pond.

"I did it," she whispered in amazement. "I did it!"

The Doctor opened both eyes. "What have you done?"

"I think I just drained the weapons systems," she said with a smile.

"But this is fixed," the Doctor argued. "This is a fixed point in time."

"Yeah," Amy agreed. "And fixed points can be rewritten."

"No," the Doctor protested. "They can't. Of course they can't."

…

"Well?" asked Churchill as he stood on the opposite end of the room from the Doctor. "What happened next?"

"Nothing,"

"Nothing?" Churchill asked as he walked towards the Doctor.

"Nothing happened," the Doctor told him. "And then it kept happening. Or, if you prefer, everything happened all at once and it won't ever stop. Time is dying. It's going to be five oh two in the afternoon for all of eternity. A needle stuck on a record."

"A record?" asked Churchill. "Good Lord man, haven't you ever heard of a download?"

The Doctor laughed despite himself. "Said Winston Churchill."

Churchill laughed and breathed. "Gun smoke," he said suddenly as he lifted his gun. "I appear to have fired this."

The Doctor looked at his hands and saw that he was holding a pike. "Oh," he said with a sigh. 'We're defending ourselves now."

"I don't understand," said Churchill.

"The creatures that lead the Silence," he explained. "They are remarkable beings. They're memory proof."

Churchill shook his head as they backed out of the room. "What?"

"It means that you can't remember them," the Doctor said. "The moment that you look away you forget that they were ever there," he paused and looked at his arm and was relieved to see one mark. "Don't panic though, in small numbers they're not too difficult."

The Doctor changed his grip on the pike and saw that his right arm was covered in tally marks. The Doctor and Churchill looked up the ceiling to see the Silents hanging from the ceiling like bats. Just when the Doctor was about to panic, a cylindrical device was thrown into the room and rolled across the floor.

"Go!" the Doctor ordered. "Run!"

The Doctor ran, knocking Churchill to the floor. The bomb went off revealing itself to be a flash bang. The Doctor found himself knocked to the floor by the concussion blast as armed soldiers burst into the room.

"Go!" one of them ordered. "Go! Keep the Silents in sight all times. Keep your eye drives active."

The soldiers poured into the room and kept their guns aimed at the ceiling.

"Who the devil are you?" Churchill asked. "Identify yourselves!"

The Doctor squinted through the smoke as a woman moved closer.

"My name is Pond," the girl stated. "Melody Pond."

The Doctor laughed and stood up. "That's my girl!" he said with a laugh. But then he saw that she was wearing an eye patch. "No, no. Melody. Why are you wearing that?"

Melody said nothing. She just fired her gun at the Doctor.

…

When the Doctor awoke he found himself on a couch with a voice floating through the air. 'The Government as again apologized for extensive radio interference caused by solar flare and sun spot activity," the Doctor sat up and noticed his very grown up daughter Melody looking at him.

"Melody?" he asked as he stood up.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "Those stun guns aren't fun but I wanted to avoid a long conversation. We don't really have time for one now though, we'll be in Cairo shortly."

"Melody Pond," he exclaimed as he stood up. "You've got to listen to me. This is going to sound crazy, but you're my daughter. Well in another version of reality you're my daughter and because you're my daughter you know things that other don't. You should be able to remember things that never happened and…" he paused and noticed that she was grinning. "You do remember, don't you?"

"Course I remember Dad," she told him. "Though remember is the wrong word. I just know. I know that you're my Dad. I know that time is wrong… and I know that you look rubbish."

"And you look wonderful!" the Doctor exclaimed as he hugged his daughter.

"I'm so glad to meet you Dad," Melody said with a smile. "But you need to look the way that I know you look," she paused and held up a tweed jacket, pants, shirt and bowtie.

"Oh!" he exclaimed. 'Thank you!"

"You're welcome," Melody stated and within moments he was dressed.

"How does your old dad look?"

Melody looked up from her desk. "Very cool."

"Really?"

Melody nodded. "I even love the bowtie."

"Really?"

"Oh yes…" she paused and cocked her head to the side. "Could use a fez though."

The Doctor laughed. "Oh you are so my daughter!" he paused and looked around. "Cool office though. Why do you have an office? Are you a special agent boss lady? I'd love it if you were a special agent boss lady, though the eye patch has to go."

"It's not an eye patch," Melody explained. "Not really. Time's gone wrong and some of us noticed. There's a whole team of us working on it."

"And you've got an office on a train?" asked the Doctor. "That's so cool! Can I have an office? I've never had an office before. Or a train. Or a train office."

Melody giggled and gave her father another hug. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too," the Doctor said. "How is that going for you?"

Melody pulled away. "I've always been like this… we've all been like this and I knew where I came from. I've written and dawn everything that I could remember… kinda sucks that Time Lords have a genetic memory though it was helpful here even if it is sometimes hard to remember."

"This wasn't your fault… do you know what happened?"

Melody shook her head. "No."

"Lake Silencio, Utah, America," the Doctor said. "I died."

"But then why are you here?"

"Because I didn't."

Melody shook her head again. "I don't understand."

"There was two different versions of the same event, both happened at the same time in the same place in the same moment. Time split wide open and now look at it…" he paused and pointed out the window. "All of history happening at once and I would say that it was kind of cool if it wasn't for the fact that time was dying."

"Dying?" asked Melody. "So we can't stay like this?"

"No," the Doctor told her. "Time isn't frozen or dying, it's disintegrating. It'll spread and spread until all reality will fall apart. It's sort of like when the Pandorica was opened which coincidently was the Silent's first attempt at killing me but this one is much worse."

"Ma'am," said a voice interrupting the Doctor. "We're about to arrive. The eye drives need to be activated as soon as we disembark."

"Thank you Captain Williams."

The Doctor grinned and turned around. "Ah Rory!" he exclaimed.

"Hello sir," Rory greeted. "Pleased to meet you."

"We've met before you know."

Rory shook his head. "I'm not one of the lucky ones, I don't remember."

"Well hopefully soon enough this will all be fixed."

"Yes sir," Rory said with a smile as he turned and left.

"Rory," Melody said with a smile. "He's the best."

"Yes," the Doctor said. "He is, and I'm so not."

"Don't sell yourself short Dad," Melody told him as she looked at him quizzically. "Now, answer me this. Why are you older? If time isn't really passing, then how can you be ageing?"

"Time is still passing for me," he told his daughter as he walked away. "Every explosion has an epicenter and I'm it. I'm what's wrong with the world."

"How can you be wrong?"

The Doctor closed his eyes. "I'm still alive."

"So, to fix all this… you've got to die?"

The Doctor nodded.

"No!" Melody exclaimed as she stood up. "There has to be another way."

"I wish there was Mels," the Doctor whispered. "But there's not."

"Miss Pond?" asked Rory as he poked his head around the door.

"Are we here?" Melody asked.

"Yes ma'am."

TBC

_Author's Note: Alright, so I lied… I've got another chapter coming which is why this chapter is so short. The next chapter is completed and will be up later today so please take the time to review!_


	34. The Day Time Died part 2

DISCLAIMER: The characters and plotlines of Doctor Who do not belong to me. They belong to the BBC, Russell T. Davies, Steven Moffat and all the other wonderful writers. I am just borrowing them for my own enjoyment, and yours too hopefully.

**Chapter Thirty – Four: The Day Time Died (part 2)**

Captain Williams led the way down the narrow stairs, which led into the Great Pyramid of Giza, also known as Area 52. The Doctor held his eye patch with distaste as Melody followed behind him. "You have to put that on," Rory told him. "It's for your own good."

"An eye patch?" asked the Doctor. "Why?"

"It's not an eye patch," Melody told him. "Not really.

"It's an eye drive," Rory explained. "It communicates directly with the memory centres of the brain and acts as external storage."

"It's the only thing that works on the bastards," Melody added. "Because no living mind can remember them, we use these to get around that."

They continued walking and they came to a room full of containment chambers, which held the Silents suspended in fluid. "The Silents," Rory whispered. "We've captured over a hundred of them now and they're all held in the Pyramid."

The Doctor with his eye patch not on approached one of the chambers. "How interesting… I've encountered them before and always wondered what they really looked like…"

"If you put the eye drive on you will remember,"

"But the human servants of the Silents wear these."

"They'd have to," Melody continued. "By wearing them they remember and if you put yours on Dad, you'll remember too."

The Doctor sighed and nodded before putting on his eye patch. The trio continued walking and all of them noticed how the faces of the Silents seemed to follow them.

'They seem to be watching you," Rory pointed out.

"Yeah," the Doctor agreed. "They would."

"Here's another question for you," Melody piped up. "From what I gather, you got the human race to kill 'em all on sight. Why aren't we doing that anymore?"

"She's so smart but she's got so much to learn," the Doctor whispered to Rory in a very fatherly way. "This is a whole new reality," the Doctor explained loud enough for Melody to hear him. "That was a whole other one. Things are different; even though they might seem the same…" he paused and looked at the tanks. "What are the tanks for anyways?"

"They can draw electricity from everything," Rory explained. "The fluid insulates them and I really don't like how they're looking at you."

"No," the Doctor agreed. "Me neither."

"Ma'am," Rory said to Melody. "I'm sure it's nothing but I should check it out. They haven't been this active in…well ever really." Rory paused and turned to two soldiers who were guarding the room. "Your name soldier?"

"Jim sir," the soldier replied. "Though everyone calls me Jimmy."

"Well Jimmy, go upstairs and check out the tank seals, then the floors above that and the floors above that. Get everyone looking."

"Yes Sir!" one of the soldiers said as they left.

"Go ahead Ma'am," Rory said. "I'll check things out."

"Thank you Captain," Melody said with a smile. "Come on Dad, this way."

"What's this way?" asked the Doctor.

"Old friends," Melody told him with a broad grin.

Melody and the Doctor walked into an open large chamber which was quite clearly acting as the nerve centre for the entire project. "So," asked the Doctor as he looked around. "Who are these old friends?"

"Well there's me for one," an old man said with a smile. The Doctor turned to see the Brigadier standing there with a smile. "Hello old chap."

The Doctor grinned. "Should have known that UNIT's finest would be here."

"Of course he's here," came anther familiar voice.

"Dear Sarah Jane," the Doctor said as he gave his old companion a hug. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you."

"And what about me?" asked a loud an obnoxious voice.

The Doctor released Sarah to come face to face with a red headed woman.

"Ah! The Doctor-Donna!" he exclaimed. "Should have known that a meta-crisis like you would have been able to see that time has gone all wonky."

"Yeah well she's not the only one," came another voice as Donna whacked the Doctor on the arm.

"That was for making me forget," she whispered. "Though thank you for saving my life."

"You're welcome," the Doctor whispered back before he looked up. "And is that Martha Jones that I hear?"

"Course it is you dolt," Martha said with a smile. "You changed your face."

The Doctor shrugged his shoulders. "It happens."

"Don't I know it," came another female voice. The Doctor felt his two hearts stop for just a moment as he turned to see a blonde woman launch herself into his arms. Though it had been ages since he had seen her, Rose Tyler was still as beautiful as ever and the Doctor was very glad that she was there even though it brought back memories of what had been.

"I am so glad that you're alright," she told him as she pulled away. "And we've got to fix this because I want my guy back."

The Doctor nodded and was pleased that his own hearts were not beating regretfully or mournfully but peacefully. Rose Tyler might have been the subject of his love once, but that was a long time ago and he had long since moved passed that.

"Well I'll see what I can do."

"I'm glad to hear that," came another voice.

The Doctor turned and saw Jack. "Captain Jack Harkness, glad to see you…" the Doctor paused and looked at him. "You're not a fixed point."

"Pleasure as always Doctor," Jack said with a smile. "No I'm not. It's another reality and all that. And let me say that this is new though. End of time, it's a nice change to facing the Daleks."

"Ooo," Rose said with a shudder. "Don't remind me."

"The pleasantry's are all well and good," came a familiar voice. "But let's not forget why we're here." The Doctor turned and saw River who just shook her head. "What sort of time do you call this?" she asked.

"Sorry," the Doctor apologized. "Not quite my fault."

"This is entirely your fault," said Madame Kovarian who was bound to a chair. "This is the death of time, this is the end of time and the end of us all. Oh, why couldn't you just die?"

"I did my best my dear," the Doctor said. "I showed up…" he paused and walked around the chamber. "This is amazing. How did you guys swing all this?"

"Hallucinogenic lipstick," River told him. "It worked wonders on President Kennedy and Cleopatra was a real doll as well."

The Doctor grinned. "Don't I know it…"

"She did mention you Dad," Melody piped up. "She sends her regrets."

"Oh?" asked the Doctor. "Did she now?"

"Yes," Kovarian snapped. "She did. Now could we please just move on with our lives."

"Unfortunately we can't," the Doctor stated. "None of us can."

"This is all your fault," Kovarian repeated.

"No," came a voice that the Doctor had hoped not to hear. "It's mine."

"Amelia," he whispered as he turned. His friends, who were all wearing eye patched parted to reveal Amelia Pond, the Doctor's Wife and his killer standing there. "Why did you do this?" he asked in a strong tone of voice.

Amy felt all riled up and let her emotions snap. "Forgive me for not wanting to kill my husband."

"That's right," the Doctor said with a nod of his head as he began to walk towards Amy. "I am your husband and as your husband I want a kiss."

"Get him!" Amy ordered as she backed away.

"Come here you," the Doctor said as he reached for Amy.

The Soldiers pulled him away and Amy just shook her head.

"I'm not a fool Doctor, I know what'll happen when we touch."

The Doctor nodded and lunged at Amy and managed to grab her wrist.

"No!" she shrieked. "Get him off me, get him off me!"

The clock on the wall of the room moved to five oh three.

"No!" Amy yelled. "No, no, no."

"I'm sorry Amelia, but it's the only way."

The soldiers managed to pull the Doctor away and Amy rubbed her wrist. For a moment she was back at Lake Silencio in the astronaut suit watching her husband die. "No," she told him. "It's not the only way. Cuff him."

"Is that really necessary?" the Doctor asked as he was cuffed.

"Yes," she said as she leered at him. "You're not to be trusted."

"Course not," he said. "It's the only way! We're opposite poles of the disruption. If we touch then we'll short out the differential and time can begin again."

"I'll be at the lakeside, killing you."

"Amy time won't fall apart. Reality will continue. There isn't another way."

"Call me selfish," Amy told him softly. "But I don't really care."

The Doctor let out a sigh. "No," he conceded. "I can see that."

"Doctor?" asked River as she looked up at the ceiling. "What's that?"

They all looked up to see water dripping down from the ceiling.

"The pyramid above us, how many Silents are trapped?"

"A hundred," Jack answered.

"None," Kovarian corrected. "They're not trapped. They never have been. They've been waiting for this Doctor. They've been waiting for you."

"They're out!" Rory exclaimed as he burst into the room with Soldier Jimmy at his side. "All of them. They're headed this way."

"It's alright," Amy said as she looked to Rory. "We out number them."

"But you're all wearing eye drives based on mine," Kovarian pointed out.

"What?" asked the Doctor. "What do you mean?"

One of the technicians, a woman whom the Doctor did not know let out a scream as her eye drive electrified. She fell to the floor dead. Amy ran over to her while Rory helped Jimmy whose eye drive was also malfunctioning. Unfortunately there was nothing that Rory could do for him.

"She's dead," Amy whispered in horror.

"Off," the Doctor ordered. "Now."

River pulled off her own eye drive and then helped the Doctor. All of his friends, the Brigadier, Sarah Jane, Donna, Martha, Rose, Jack, Rory, Amy and Melody all followed suit and watched as their drives buzzed harmfully on the floor. The Doctor's friends save River, Amy and Melody all gave him a hug before grabbing their guns and going out to fight the Silents.

"You may have survived," Kovarian taunted. "But your soldiers won't. The Silence would never allow an advantage without taking one themselves; The effects will vary from person to person, either death or debilitating agony. Even with them off they will get you."

Madame Kovarian laughed but then her eye patch buzzed. "What?" she asked. "What are you doing? It's me. Don't be stupid you need me. Stop it. Stop that."

"We could stop this," the Doctor said to Amy. "Right now. You and I."

"Get it off me!" Kovarian screamed.

"Melody, convince your mother."

"We've been working on something," Melody said. "Let us show you Dad."

"My time is up," the Doctor stated. "There is nothing you can do."

"We did this all for you," River pointed out.

"Then people are dying for me," the Doctor yelled. "Some of them are dying for me when they've already been lost to me. I'm not going to thank you for that memory."

"Just let us show you," Melody pleaded.

"No," the Doctor insisted.

"Please my love," Amy begged.

The Doctor shook his head.

"We've only got a couple of minutes," River pointed out.

"That'll be enough," Amy assured them. "Melody, River. Take him to the Receptor Room, I'll be there in a moment."

The Doctor was led away by River and Melody leaving Amy alone.

"Amy," Madame Kovarian begged. "Help me."

Amy walked over to her. "You tried to steal my baby," she said. "And then you tried to take River and turn her into a weapon. Finally you used me to kill my husband and now all of time is falling apart."

"You'll still save me," Kovarian stated. "Because he would. You'd never do anything to disappoint your precious Doctor."

"The Doctor is very precious to me you're right," Amy agreed. "But do you know what else he is Madame Kovarian. He's not here." Amy said as she put the eye patch back on Kovarian. "And thanks to you, he'll never be here again probably."

Amy turned and left as Madame Kovarian screamed.

…

"And what is so important that you had to drag me to the top of the pyramid?" asked the Doctor as they reached their destination. "And what is this?" he asked as he noticed the large mechanical thing. "Oh, it's a timey-wimey distress beacon. Who built this?"

"I did," Melody said with a smile. "Time Lord baby. Totally awesome."

"Smart girl, but it's a distress beacon."

"We've been sending out a message," Amy said as she joined them. "A distress call outside the bubble of our time. The universe is still turning. I've sent a message everywhere. To the future and to the past, the beginning and the end of everything."

"And what have you been saying?"

"That the Doctor is dying, and that we need help."

"Amy this is ridiculous. That would mean nothing to anyone. It's insane. Worse still it's stupid. You embarrass me."

"That's horrible to say to your wife," Amy said with tears in your eyes.

"Those reports of sun spot and the solar flares are wrong," River interjected. "There aren't any. It's not the sun Doctor it's you. The sky is full of a million, million voices saying yes; of course we'll help. You've touched so many lives. Saved so many people. Did you really think that when your time came, you'd really have to do more than just ask?" River explained. "You've decided that the universe is better off without you, but the universe does not agree."

The Doctor shook his head. "River, no one can help me."

"You're so wrong."

"No," he protested. "A fixed point has been altered. Time is dying."

"We can't let you die," Melody said firmly.

"I have to die."

"Oh shut it!" Amy exclaimed as she walked so that she was inches away from the Doctor. "I can't let you die without knowing that you are loved by so many, and so much… and by no one more than… than me."

The Doctor sighed. "Oh Amy. Because of this, billions will suffer and die."

"I will suffer," Amy cried.

"More than every living thing in the universe?"

Amy nodded. "I'll die without you. I love you."

The Doctor sighed and nodded his head. "Oh Amelia. Why do you have to be so… so Scottish…" he paused and turned to his daughter. "Uncuff your father Melody, won't you?"

Melody nodded and uncuffed her father. As she did so she looked into her father's eyes and grinned.

"Alright," he said as he rung his wrists. "Now, I need a strip of cloth about a foot long. Anything will do…" the Doctor paused and then sighed. "Never mind," he added as he untied his bow-tie. "Amy, take one of this and wrap it around your hand and hold it out to me."

"What am I doing?" asked Amy as they wrapped an end of the bow tie around their hands.

"You're doing as you're told. Now, we're in the middle of a combat zone, and I know that we've already done it before but I think it's only fair that our daughter gets to see this. Eh Melody?"

Melody nodded, barely able to contain her glee. "Oh yes."

"Now Amy, I'm going to whisper something in your ear and you have to remember it very carefully and trust that it'll all work out okay?"

The Doctor leaned close and whispered in Amy's ear. She looked at him quizzically and then peered close. She saw what her daughter had seen. There within the Doctor's eye was the Doctor and his TARDIS. Amy had to clamp down her jaw in order to stop herself from grinning like a fool.

"Do you promise to love me for the rest of your life?" the Doctor asked.

"Only if you promise to love me for the rest of yours." Amy stated.

"I promise," the Doctor said.

Amy grinned. "Then so do I."

"Then I pronounce us husband and wife and wife I have a request," the Doctor said with a smile of his own. "This world is dying, it's all my fault. I can't bear it another day. Please, help me end this."

"I grant your request," Amy said in a sultry voice. "You may kiss the bride."

The Doctor leaned forward and kissed his bride.

…

Time sped up. The Doctor died. The Astronaut returned to the lake. River and Rory met future Canton and burned the Doctor's body. Jack and Rory came to Lake Silencio just in time to see River and Past Rory vanish along with the elderly Canton Delaware. The Doctor's body was burning on the lake and they heard a woman scream. They raced towards the sound and found an unconscious Amy.

"Oh Amy," Rory said as he checked her vitals.

"Is she alright?" asked Jack worriedly.

Rory paused and nodded.

Jack breathed a sigh of relief.

Amy moaned and Rory looked up at Jack. "We need to take her home."

"Yes," Jack agreed. "We do."

…

Amy sat at a table, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders with baby Melody sleeping in her arms. She sat there staring up at the sky as she had done for the past couple days. Her parents Tabitha and August stood in the back sitting room watching their daughter worriedly.

"She thinks he's coming back," Tabitha whispered. "Doesn't she."

"Yeah," Rory said from behind Amy's parents.

"But he's dead," her father said. "Isn't he?"

"Yes sir," Jack confirmed. "He is."

"Then why does she wait for him?" asked Tabitha in wonder.

"Because it's what she's always done," came a voice.

The two parents, Rory and Jack turned to see River standing there.

"I'm here to talk to Amy," River explained. "After all, I'm her."

Tabitha and August parted. Rory and Jack didn't say a word and River walked outside into the cool night air and sat down beside Amy at the table. Amy's parents and Rory and Jack left their vigil at the window side, deciding to retire to the front sitting room to discuss possible options for Amy.

…

"So where are we?" Amy asked not blinking at all.

"I just climbed out of the Byzantium. I finally earned my pardon."

"So what happened?"

River sighed. "When you were unconscious, and before Jack and Rory got to you the Teselecta came for you but I was there. I told them that they were wrong, that I killed the Doctor and because my DNA matched yours…"

"You've been serving time for a crime that you didn't commit."

"But I would have."

Amy shook her head. "It's not fair."

"No," River confirmed. "But it's least I could do."

Amy looked up at River— the woman whom she thought at one time would steal the Doctor's affection— when she really was just a reflection of herself. "Thank you…. So the Byzantium eh?"

River nodded. "You were there, so young and didn't have a clue as to who I was. You're so funny like that. I take it that the Doctor's dead?"

Amy nodded.

"You're lying," River whispered with a smile causing Amy to look up with a start. "Oh don't worry," River assured. "I'm not going to tell anyone. Actually I think that it's quite amazing that he managed to get out of this one alive."

"I killed someone," Amy whispered. "A woman with an eye patch."

River shook her head. "It's an aborted timeline. It doesn't matter."

"Course it does," Amy muttered quietly. "I can remember it, so it happened, so I did it, so it matters."

"Perhaps, but what matters more is that the Doctor is alive."

"He's lying to the world," Amy muttered. "I wonder when he'll come back."

"He'll come back soon enough," River assured. "I know what he's going through. The Doctor lies and so do I all the time because of spoilers. I hate it though, pretending not to know who you are. Pretending that I didn't recognize the space suit in Florida."

"So in what order did things happen for you?" asked Amy curiously.

"There was the Gamma Forests and my training by Kovarian," River explained. "Then there was the Ledworth crop circle and Berlin. The Fifty-First century when I was going to be kidnapped and then I was imprisoned. I had lots of adventures with the Doctor and then came the Battle of Demon's Run where I finally figured out that it was you he loved and not me…"

River paused and shook her head. "…more adventures with the Doctor and then came my later version of Lake Silencio and 1969 America. I knew what I was going to but I also knew how things ended so I had to lie."

"I bet it was hard,"

"You have no idea," River said with a small laugh. "But after 1969 America came more adventures and then the Pandorica. That one had me worried for a while and I knew that I had met an earlier version of the Doctor so I tried to warn him. But he didn't listen."

"He never does."

"No," River agreed. "He doesn't."

"Then what?" asked Amy.

"Then more adventures," River answered. "And the Byzantium."

"And you're free now?"

River nodded. "I am."

"What do you plan on doing now?"

River shrugged. "I'm a Doctor in Archaeology," she said. "But I've always wanted to teach. So maybe I'll settle down and get my PHD."

"The Doctor did say that he knew you as a professor," Amy pointed out.

"Now Amy," came a voice from out of the blue. "What have I said about spoilers?"

Amy looked up and saw to her astonishment that just behind River was the open door of the TARDIS which was invisible and that the Doctor, her Doctor was standing in the doorway in his new tweed jacket and bow tie. Without saying a word, Amy handed Melody to River before launching herself into her husbands arm.

The Doctor was so thankful to have Amy back in his arms. "Oh Amy."

"I hate you, you know," she muttered as she held on to him tightly. "Why did you leave me for so long?"

"I thought I was doing what was best," the Doctor told her as he held on to her. "Forgive me Amy but I was blind to what really matters. You're the very best of me as is our little Melody. There is no way in the universe that I'm ever going to leave the two of you now."

"Well I for one am glad for that," River said as she stood up and held out a squirmy Melody to the Doctor who took his daughter gladly. "It's good to see you alive Doctor."

"And you River," the Doctor said. "Thank you for taking Amy's place."

"You owe me," River said with a glint.

"Anywhere you want to go, he'll take you," Amy promised.

The Doctor nodded. "It's the least I can do."

"All those adventures that I've had… that you'll have…" River giggled. "Oh how you'll love them."

"Hang on a second," Amy said quizzically. "When the Doctor dropped you off in 1969 America you kissed him but… you knew that we would get together."

"Course I knew," River said.

"So why did you kiss me?" asked the Doctor.

River just rolled her eyes. "Because something had to get you two started now right?" asked River with a smile. The Doctor and Amy just looked to each other and nodded. "Oh you two love birds… be safe in your travels."

"You too," the Doctor said with a smile. "You too."

River disappeared in a flash and the sound of electricity. The Doctor held out his hand to let Amy into the TARDIS but she shook her head. "We've got to let them know that you're alright."

The Doctor shook his head. "We can't. They can't know. No one can."

Amy's shoulder's slumped forward. "So what do I say?"

"I told them that we're going off on an adventure," said River with a smiled as she popped back into existence. "So get going the two of you, quickly."

The Doctor and Amy closed the door to the TARDIS and watched as River vanished just as her parents, Rory and Jack came running out into the backyard. "I'm going to miss them…" Amy whispered as she placed a hand on the pane of the TARDIS glass.

"I'm so sorry for taking you away from your family," the Doctor apologized.

"Don't apologize," Amy told him as she wrapped her arms around him, mindful of baby Melody in his arms. "I have a family, and it's all that I could ever wish for."

The Doctor grinned. "Come on," he said. "Let's go."

…

"Who's carrying me?" came the muffled cry of Dorium. "I demand to know. I'm a head but I still have rights! I want my doors open this minute!" From his prison Dorium could head someone walking away. "It is you, isn't it?" He listened carefully and could hear the figure stop. "It is you," Dorium continued with a grin. "I can sense it. But how did you do it? How could you have possibly escaped?"

The doors of the box opened and Dorium stared up into the Doctor's face.

"The Teselecta," the Doctor explained with a grin. "A Doctor in a Doctor Suit. Time said that I had to be on the beach so I dressed for the occasion. I barely got singed in that boat."

"So you're going to do this then? Let them all think that you're dead."

"Well not everyone," Amy piped up from the doorway.

"It's the only way," the Doctor said. "They can all forget me."

"No one will forget you," Amy added. "I've told you that."

The Doctor rolled his eyes.

"Women," Dorium muttered.

"Wife," the Doctor corrected in a quiet voice.

"I heard that," Amy scowled, though she was smiling as well.

"Anyways I got to big," the Doctor continued. "I got to noisy. It's time for me to stop, step back into the shadows and live my life…" he paused and looked at his family. "It's time to be with my family."

"And what about Doctor Song, in prison all her life."

"What about her?" the Doctor asked.

"She killed you," Dorium pointed out.

"Did she?" asked Amy. "Are you sure?"

"So many secrets," Dorium said with a laugh. "I'll help the two of you keep them, of course."

"Well you're not exactly going anywhere are you?"

"But you're a fool nonetheless," Dorium warned. "It's all still waiting for you. The fields of Trenzalor, the fall of the Eleventh, and that question."

The Doctor saluted Dorium before walking away. "Goodbye Dorium!"

"Goodbye Dorium," Amy echoed.

"The first question!" Dorium shouted. "The question that must never be answered, hidden in plain sight and asked a thousand times. The question, that you've been running form all your life. Doctor Who? Doctor Who? Doctor Who?"

…

"He's right you know," Amy said as the Doctor piloted the TARDIS.

"Who's right?"

"Dorium," she replied. "I don't know your name."

"No one does."

"Right," Amy said. "But shouldn't I know, I am your wife."

The Doctor shook his head.

"River knows," Amy pointed out. "You told me that she does."

The Doctor sighed. He remembered that moment vividly. He had told River that there was only one moment that he could tell another his true name, and that was the moment that he trusted that individual more than anyone. He couldn't quite imagine coming to that moment with River, but he knew that he was long since past it with Amy.

"Alright," he said as he walked towards Amy. "I'll tell you."

Amy stood there, with baby Melody in her arms as the Doctor leaned down and whispered his name in her ear. He pulled back and looked at her face which was a crumpled up in confusion.

"Gallifreyan," he said with a shrug. "Odd, I know."

"But how could that make silence fall?" asked Amy curiously.

The Doctor shrugged his shoulders. "I've got no idea."

"And the fields of Trenzalore at the fall of the eleventh?" asked Amy. "Don't get me wrong Doctor but… that sounds like the end of you doesn't it?"

"What do you mean?" the Doctor asked.

"I mean the fall of the eleventh, you're the eleventh incarnation."

The Doctor nodded. "Never thought about that."

"So what are you going to do?" The Doctor looked at the TARDIS console before grinning. He turned a couple of dials and flipped a couple of switches and then laughed. "What?" asked Amy with a laugh herself. "What have you done?"

"Locked the field of Trenzalore out of the TARDIS controls."

Amy just looked at the Doctor. "But we don't know when…"

"Ah but we do know where," he replied. "I'll just never go there, or rather we'll never go there. Ever."

"But what about your future?"

"The future is what you make of it," the Doctor assured. "Or rather, it's going to be what we make of it. So why don't we make it the best one that we can make it… alright?"

Amy nodded and kissed her husband knowing that no matter what was before them, they would face it together.

END

_Author's Note: Well there you have it folks, the end of my AU. It has been an amazing journey since March. Personally, I can't believe that I've written a story over a hundred thousand reviews but I've got to say that for me it's been so fun. _

_First off I'd like to thank each and every one of you guys who have read and/or reviewed this story. For my original works I write mainly for myself, but I do write fan fiction with the audience in mind and even though there were times that I seemed to abandon this story I was never going to let you guys down. _

_I really do hope that you guys liked the ending. The Fields of Trenzalore and the Fall of the Eleventh is bound to be something brilliant but I wanted to end the story here. By locking the location out of the TARDIS I feel like Amy and the Doctor and baby Melody would be able to live their lives without the fear of what was to come. _

_I've never mentioned it but I'd like to thank jpgr at "Diary of a Procrastinator" because __without the transcripts that were provided, I would have never had the patience to complete a lot of these chapters. So jpgr, thank you._

_I'd also like to thank bub4353 for being such a loyal reviewer and my 100th one to boot. I hope that you noticed your little cameo in this chapter. :D _

_Finally, a huge shout out and thank you to Rejhan, my long time writing buddy who helped me bounce countless plot points off her when I realized just who Melody Pond was in the BBC's Canon. Don't know if I could have written this without you Rejhan… so thanks!_

_Anyhoo… finishing a story is a super weird feeling but I'm super proud of it and I hope that you guys re-read it while we wait for new episodes of Doctor Who to return. I hope I addressed all the plot holes in this last chapter but if I didn't just let me know and I'll spruce up a chapter or two. _

_Thanks again for reading, it means so much. _

_Have a very Happy New Year!_

_~Anjirika_

_December 31, 2011_


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